Hands on Sunshine
by ahoykailee
Summary: Returning from Berk after two years teaching other Viking tribes, Hiccup comes home to an unhappy Astrid. However, after loosing a tooth and gaining some sort of respect and trust back, they end up having the summer of their lives. HiccupxAstrid.
1. Prologue

Hello! I'm so excited! My first HTTYD fic! Yay!

**Summary: **Returning from Berk after two years teaching other Viking tribes, Hiccup comes home to a very unhappy Astrid. However, after loosing a tooth and gaining some sort of respect and trust back, they end up having the summer of their lives. HiccupxAstrid. Mature rating later.

Note: I have some music suggestions to listen to, though you may not want to listen because you've already got your awesome tunez playing, I recommend these!: Animal Arithmetic, Sticks and Stone, and Go Do, by Jónsi, and Lucky Today by Cloud Cult (I got the title from this song!) These all are songs that have been my staple go-to while writing this entire story, and I will have more to post in later chapters, but these are for this first 'chapter' of Hands On Sunshine.

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Hands on Sunshine

Prologue

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He could draw intricate, complicated, deadly machines, but he couldn't get a human face right for the life of him. His blue prints were measured to the millimeter, straight and exact, and all his calculations just perfect enough to baffle Gobber—but then again, the meathead with the attitude never really had an aptitude for math. Hiccup loved math. It was one of the things he understood and actually got right most of the time. He had books and books of mathematics and science and stuff stacked in the little book space his work room had to offer, and some were even stashed under his bed to read by candlelight at night.

But human faces had almost no math to it. He had to use his eye as back up, and Odin knows how often he overlooks things. Yes, faces are proportional, but they're all _different_. Wooden planks pretty much were all the same. But, faces… so difficult.

Hiccup had, throughout the years, gone out and sketched much of Berk's beautiful scenery, but by the time he was sixteen he had seen it all, drawn every last tree, every leaf there ever was. He went to drawing dragons, and much of them were of Toothless, some consisting of Nightmares, Terrible Terrors, Gronkles (his least favorite), Nadders, and Zipplebacks. And then once he filled up two thick sketchbooks he had sewn together himself, he decided it was high time to find something else to draw and examine.

Drawing people was not the first thing on his mind. He tried sketching out houses and toying with architecture ideas. Then, for awhile, he decided he was useless at that when he built a small-scale home and it collapsed. Calculations and careful planning included, he sucked at building houses for some stupid, godforsaken reason. He had been fiddling with wood and metal for most of his life, so he had to wonder where he went wrong with building houses. But, Hiccup understood the Gods obviously didn't want him building homes for the people of Berk, especially now when most of the houses were getting older and were not burning down every two nights.

So, Hiccup sat in the work room until dusk most nights with his head on his desk, trying to search his brain for 'artistic inspiration'. Instead, he went back to his calculations to mess around with a new idea concerning his awfully squeaky prosthetic. Gobber admitted that he hadn't really thought out the design, just threw together parts and pounded metal until it seemed right. He said, "Well, on thee bright side, yeh git te' fiddle with somethin' ta keep yer mind occupied." Of course. Like he hadn't been doing that for three months to keep his sparrow's mind from even touching on the miserable fact of his missing lower leg, and not to mention, the winter weather was wearing him down considerably. Hiccup thought the idea of having a stump for the rest of his days was bleak and pitying, but Astrid told him one day it was one helluva battle scar, and he smiled at that—though it still stunk to walk around with a hobble.

And _speaking _of Astrid.

Hiccup, idle on one of his few days off from the forge, was sitting on a boulder on the edge of a path. He intended to sit down because he had been walking all day with nothing to do and his leg was throbbing something fierce, but he just played it off like he was just sitting down (trying to keep what Viking demeanor he had left). Well, he sat. Looking around his home, the village he would some day lead, and his eyes landed on Astrid standing in the market with her legendary mother, Ingrid, basket on her hip, and he thought that she looked impossibly beautiful.

Ingrid and Astrid were talking to Ruffnut and Tuffnut's mother, Hilda, Astrid looking awfully bored in the conversation going between the two mothers. Hiccup could see her rolling her impeccable ice blue eyes like any type of humanly conversation was far below her; she was named after a Valkyrie, after all. Well, Hiccup didn't know how else to explain what sparked in him all of a sudden, but he whipped out his brand-spanking-new sketchbook, took out his charcoal pencil, and began drawing.

It looked like complete, utter crap at first. It was hideous. Horrendous, actually, like his middle name, and his father's, and his grandfather's. 'Astrid', who was not Astrid on paper, looked like some crazy witch from some far off land had cast a revolting spell on her. However, Hiccup was always one to be hard on himself. Gobber sneaked up on him one day sitting at his desk, sketchbook open, and he immediately guessed Astrid. Hiccup flushed furiously, stumbled on some words, slammed his book closed, and managed to shoo his master out of the room before he had a full-blown heart attack.

But however much it confused and positively taunted him, Hiccup liked drawing people. Though he still felt like he was doodling blindly like a two-year-old, he prided himself on a few good sketches. He had half a notebook dedicated to little things he noticed about Astrid, such as the way her hand formed around her axe handle, how her rounded jaw cast shadows down her long neck, or even the way the light shone on her hair. Hiccup loved her hair. He loved drawing it especially; how it was always messily braided, how it swished between her shoulder blades and grew as the months passed to the middle of her back. Women all around Berk desired a hair color such as hers, or even Ruffnut's, sometimes going as far as to bleaching it. Good thing Hiccup always had a thing for blondes.

Drawing for him was a good way to sort through his raging, skittish thoughts. He could relax and focus for at least a couple of minutes as he hastily finished sketching a couple of children tossing a bladder ball filled with flour. He often smeared his work, the outside of his left hand completely smothered black within ten minutes up to this elbow, but Hiccup wasn't bothered by it.

Everyone soon started noticing Hiccup on the sidelines with his dinky black leather book in hand with more than plenty charcoal pencils, and it wasn't long before people started questioning him about what he was doing. Hiccup would be often lost in thought and not realize someone was coming until he felt them breathing down his neck or hovering over him. Faster than one could blink, Hiccup would slam his book closed or leap backwards or jump in surprise.

When it happened to be Ruffnut one day, a hand on her cocked hip and head tilted downwards and turned at a slight angle, Hiccup instantly knew the outcome would not be to his advantage.

"So, whatcha drawing, there, Hiccup?" She asked in a hard, inquisitive tone, raising a thin brow and furrowing the other.

"Uh, drawing? I-I'm not drawing. I can't draw. I'm not drawing anything. What're you doing?" Hiccup quickly tucked his sketchbook away in his vest. Ruffnut did not look very convinced.

"Don't even bother trying, Haddock. I've seen you. You draw girls!"

Hiccup looked up at her in pure mortification. His mouth hung and went dry as an empty pot before he could speak. "N-no. I-I-I'm not-! Ah!"

Ruffnut lunged at him, knocking him off the rock he was perched on onto his back. He couldn't let her see his sketchbook! He would sooner kill himself than let Ruffnut flag it around, showing off all his sketches of the village people, and some that included her. Hiccup kept his arms locked in close as she sat on top of him, punching his stomach and shoulders and shaking his shirt like a mad woman, screeching at him to 'give me the book!' and laughing all the while.

Tuffnut seemed to have heard his sister's unmistakable laugh that almost matched his own, and came shuffling over with Snotlout to see what Ruff was attacking Hiccup for. "Ooh!" Tuffnut said tauntingly in a mock-suggestive voice. "What's going on here?"

"Hiccup's been drawing girls!" Ruff said over Hiccup's loud protests and fumbling to roll out from under her, but it was clear Ruff had a lot of experience tackling boys.

"Naked?" Snotlout jumped in all too quickly, but Tuffnut, being the only boy around their age just like him, sniggered, and they cheered Ruffnut on.

"No! Not—naked!" Hiccup was fending off Ruffnut's hands pretty well until she gave a swift punch to his stomach. Hiccup, being the wuss he is, loosened up like a noodle with a mighty 'oomph!'

Ruffnut snagged the sketchbook from Hiccup's vest pocket and jumped off him like lightning, racing over to where Snotlout and Tuffnut were to huddle. Hiccup lay on the ground where he was, hoping Ruff had punched him hard enough to bruise his organs so he could just die a miserable death. This was quickly turning into the worst day of his life. Among others.

Snotlout's loud boisterous laughing made Hiccup want to punch himself again in the stomach for good measure. "Hah—look! It's Skuldus!"

"Oh, there's you, Tuff. Look at that flowing hair. Such a lady," Ruff said sarcastically, earning a shove from her twin.

"There's you! You look just like the ugliest butt-elf I have to look at every day!" Tuffnut sniggered before his sister kicked his knee very hard, making him grip it and stumble backward. "Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!"

"Who's that?" Snotlout pointed to a sketch of a girl, one that filled up an awful lot of space. Hiccup groaned and covered his red face, now standing. This was horrible.

"That's Astrid, ya idiot. Can't you tell? She's got that headband thing. Geez, I thought you were supposed to have the hots for her," Ruffnut took the book from Snotlout and flipped through a few more pages, catching him off-guard for once in his life.

"What? Who said I had the 'hots' for Astrid? She's hot, yeah, but that doesn't mean I-," he groaned. "Ruff, you can't just go and say that! Astrid's just—,"

"Astrid's what?" And speak of Odin, there was the girl in question, axe propped upon her shoulder and looking like she ran a million miles.

Hiccup's mouth slackened a bit. He didn't know sweaty Astrid could look so appealing. She wore a loose fitting tunic and her hair tightly plaited, but there was just _something._ Maybe it was the slight flush of her cheeks? Hiccup blinked and quickly gathered his thoughts, taking the opportunity to swipe his book from Ruffnut, who was laughing at Snotlout and calling him stupid.

"You're in The Sketchbook!" Snotlout blurted, trying to act as manly as possible and to get the topic off his red face, doing his best to ignore Ruff's taunts. He pointed to Hiccup, who was so desperately wishing his tunic was green enough to mesh in with the grass and trees.

Astrid directed her gaze to him, still very much visible, and Hiccup felt his heart pump a bit faster. Gods! She was so distracting in her state presently. She raised her brow and twisted her axe handle in her hand, almost challenging him to _not _answer.

"Y-yeah. You're in the… the uh… The Sketch… book," Hiccup mumbled, his knuckles white as he gripped the leather.

"Oh? Well, let me see," she walked closer to him and Hiccup unconsciously stepped backward.

"Uhm… how about not?" he inquired rather than demanded.

"Everybody else got to see," Astrid retorted, reaching for the sketchbook.

"Except for Fishlegs!" Tuffnut shouted from somewhere nearby. "What? He's gotta see the hilarity, too," he said when Ruffnut shot him a 'shut up, stupid' glare.

Astrid reached around Hiccup, holding it away and upwards, now to his advantage that he had grown an inch or two in the last seven or eight months. "Hiccup!" Astrid dropped her axe and lunged for it, but Hiccup smirked and switched it to his other hand. He loved it when she said his ridiculous name, especially now when she looked so strangely appealing in the early spring sunlight.

Astrid stepped back and gave him a quick blow to his arm that was holding the book. Hiccup, still a wuss, fell into the same trap Ruffnut had set up, and Astrid swiped the book before he realized it was even gone. "Oh, come on! Can you all just give up? They all are horrible anyway; I don't know why any of you want to look at them so badly. And why does everybody have to keep punching me all the time?"

"Because it's fun," Snotlout interjected, receiving supporting snickers from Tuffnut, who had hobbled over in the mix, and Ruffnut. Hiccup rolled his eyes and slapped his hand over his face, running his hand through his thick hair. Oh, right. He _totally _forgot. Of course. He was always the punching bag since as long as he could remember. Awesome.

Hiccup kept from looking at Astrid in case he saw any laughing expressions or disapproving looks as she rifled and flipped through the thick pages until she found the section he had in place for her, unintentionally of course. Astrid had her brows slightly furrowed; blinking hard like she was trying to rid something from her eyes or trying to figure something out, and Hiccup prayed it was the former. Ruff, Tuff and Snotlout wandered off to go push around some kids, leaving Hiccup rocking on his impatient and anxious feet—foot—and desperately hoping Astrid would say something positive or anything neutral. Even though he thought she looked like a troll in some of them, it would sting beyond unimaginable doubt if she were to reject them.

"These are supposed to be me, right?" she pointed to a sketch of her grinning foolishly one night in Mead Hall after a mug of mead. Hiccup had been behind her and off to the side when he sketched it, getting a good view of her pauldrons on her shoulders, and her hair was perfectly disarrayed in its braid. That little thumbnail sketch that took up the upper left corner happened to be one his favorites.

Hiccup just simply pursed his lips and shyly nodded, folding his arms behind his back. Why couldn't this be over? He looked to the sky to avoid looking at her again, watching the bellies of a few dragons pass overhead. He squeezed his eyes shut when he heard an intake of breath like she was about to speak, but no words came.

Hiccup slowly squeaked open an eye and saw her still gazing down at his drawings, looking positively in awe like they were the most immaculate things she had ever seen. Hiccup flushed furiously, then his mind started racing. _Does she actually _like _them? Oh, Gods, what if she hates them? She'll totally kill me. I'm dead. I'm totally dead. _

"Hiccup," she said after a long pause, voice a bit scolding. _Oh, she hates them. Great. I'll go die in a hole now, thanks. _

"They're horrible, I know. Anyway, I'm going to-," Hiccup tried taking his sketchbook back but she held it away and in one swift motion, took the neck of his tunic and pulled him down to kiss his cheek.

Hiccup blinked incredulously when she pulled away after her surprisingly soft lips lingered around his freckled cheek longer than he expected. His mouth was slightly agape and he knitted his brows, trying to form 'what?' on his tongue, but any form of speech left him. He wished she kissed him on the mouth like she had many months before, but he couldn't complain.

Dumbfounded, Hiccup noticed the new pinkish tone to her cheeks, a slight smile gracing her small and perfect mouth. Then she punched his arm hard with enough force to make him stagger and yelp. "Ow! Why? Explanations really help, you know!" Hiccups hand flew to the offended bony bicep she just whacked.

"That was for drawing me so well," Astrid pointed to her cheek as she handed back Hiccup's sketchbook. He took it with much confusion, his cheeks vaguely flushed as well. "And _that,_" she pointed to the spot where Hiccup was rubbing his arm, "was for saying they all sucked."

He sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head. Sometimes he thought he could predict Astrid's next step but most of the time she did the opposite. She was just as surprising as Tuffnut reading a book. He would never truly understand any woman.

Astrid bent to pick up her axe, and when she stood she was smiling wide and happily; a funny combination with her known-to-be-deadly axe slung on her shoulder. "You don't have to draw secretly anymore," she turned and started walking away from him, and he couldn't help but glance at her hips. "Let me know if you wanna sketch or something," she grinned over her shoulder. "I don't bite."

Hiccup swallowed his heart soaring like a bird. "I think you very much do," he replied with a stupid grin.

Astrid tossed him a teasing look over her shoulder, and continued walking away laughing. Once she was far enough, he let out a victory "Yess!" balling up his fists as it to punch the air. Okay, maybe it wasn't such a bad day. Astrid didn't hate his drawings and she didn't hate him for doodling the crap out of her, and, in fact, Hiccup thought she didn't seem to mind. This was victory indeed.

00

Hiccup very rarely dominated his life by impulses. Sure, on occasion, way back when, he would jump out into the fray to try and take down a dragon or two when they were still attacking. Sometimes, when he was younger, he would look up at a tree and decide it was a good idea to climb and he would fall and break his arm. Every kid did that. At sixteen, though, Hiccup found the wonders of _thinking things through. _Often times, things turned out unexpectedly well, such as when he first met Toothless: he thought for a day on the pros and cons (overlooking much of the cons) and he now had the best friend of his life.

But Hiccup did not think through throwing rocks at Astrid's window a few nights after she 'approved' of his drawing endeavors.

Astrid was lying in bed still wide awake when she heard a loud thump against the wooden shutter that closed her window. She waited to see if she was just imagining things, looking around her dark room. A minute later another came and she flew out of bed, the covers flying, and she slammed her back against the wall under her window with a dagger in hand that she pulled out from under her pillow. She bit her tongue and counted the seconds until another thud came, and after that, she waited.

…_Two… one! _

Astrid leaped up and shoved her window open, caught the rock, and flung her dagger down at the intruder trying to steal her from her room.

Hiccup yelped and jumped away from her dagger just in time to graze the end of his vest. Astrid let out a long breath she was holding, groaned, and slapped a hand over her chest. Her heart was pounding so fast she thought she was going to puke and faint.

Hiccup, breathing irrationally fast, sighed in complete relief. The second he saw the gleam of her dagger in the moonlight he felt a not-yet-existing injury sting, but thankfully he dived in time. He rolled over onto his back and sat up, walking over to where he previously stood, her dagger now marking the spot like an 'X' on a treasure map.

"Hiccup! Odin's Beard, I could've killed you!" Astrid yelled in a harsh whisper, her hands gripping the window sill.

He hardly heard a word she said, just inklings. He was craning his neck up to look at her, clad in her billowing and loose nightgown, braid undone and her hair thick and loose, wavy like the ocean, sticking out in all directions. Hiccup blinked a few times, looking to her house to gather his thoughts, and prayed to the Gods in Valhalla that they hadn't woken her parents, or any neighbors for that matter. It was kinda late…. He was walking home from the forge and thought stopping by Astrid's was a good idea. Guess not.

"I know… b-but-!"

"But _what_, Hiccup? What could you _possibly _want at this time? It's nighttime!" She threw her arm out to gesture to the moon shining incredibly bright on her and the millions of stars.

Hiccup groaned and slapped a hand to his face. "_Gods_, why am I so—can I draw you?" he blurted a bit too loud, but quickly lowered his voice. "Please? I-I really would—would _like _to, and, I thought, you said it was okay? I mean, I know you're in bed—er, _were _in bed—but I can't get this image right! Not that I had any images of anything _bad_—you know, just… normal stuff. Astrid stuff! Agh! No—not in that way! Just-,"

He abruptly ended his ranting and sputtering when he got a stone thrown to his head and Astrid slamming her window shut. Hiccup stared at where she was not two seconds ago, ignoring the throbbing pain on his head. He screwed his face up and hit his head some more with the heels of his hands, groaning at himself. "Ugh! Why am I so _stupid_! Of course she would be sleeping! And you just _had _to wake her up, didn't you, Hiccup?" he yelled at himself mostly in third person, kicking some of the stones he brought with him. He kicked one just right so it hit the corner of her house.

He stopped wailing his arms around and went slack. "See? I can't even kick a _rock _right. Maybe it'll be better if I just woke everybody up. Yeah, sounds like a good plan," Hiccup started trudging away dramatically, dragging his foot and peg-leg, mumbling some more depreciating insults.

"Hold on, Drama Queen," Astrid whispered loudly from her window, swinging her legs over the window sill she sat on, and jumped onto the roof above her front porch. She carefully leaned over the edge to hop onto some water barrels next to the porch and landed on the ground, hardly making a sound.

Hiccup's eyes were wide with disbelief and his face lit up. _No way_! "You're… you're actually… coming?" he stuttered, totally surprised. He was preparing himself for a night of embarrassing rejection, planning on huddling on his bed and never leaving his house.

"_Yeah_, only because you seemed so destroyed about it," Astrid spoke a bit more coldly than she intended. She swallowed, realizing this, and let her voice become a bit lighter and more Astrid-like. Taking his arm, she pulled him behind her. "C'mon, Artist Boy. Where are we going?"

Hiccup grinned widely and led her to the most open spot on Berk: the sheep fields. It was the only place he knew close by that was open enough and nobody could hear them talking. They situated themselves near the cliff, far enough away from the fluffy huddle of sheep. Astrid was finding herself becoming a bit nervous. _Why am I nervous? Should I be? He's only going to draw me. Not a big deal. _She thought, twisting her hands.

Hiccup noticed her body language but didn't say anything by it. He was a bit flattered, though. Astrid Hofferson did not get nervous, yet she was fiddling with her hands. He sat down cross-legged and Astrid sat in front of him, keeping her gaze away from Hiccup's impossibly bright green eyes. He chuckled as he watched her, flipping to a blank page.

"What?" Astrid snapped, pulling up her hard, stone mask she kept to hide her feelings. She was a typical Hofferson girl; just like her two older sisters and her mother, the toughest women in the village. The whole island knew it, and Hiccup was no stranger to it.

He shook his head. "Nothing." _Go safe. Play it safe. _

"There's something! What'd you laugh at?" she balled up her fists quickly, always ready to jump at anything, before trying to smooth out her frazzled hair she hastily pulled into a haphazard ponytail while stumbling into her leggings she wore earlier that day. _It's my hair! He's _so_ laughing at my hair…. _

"Just sit still," Hiccup chuckled, making Astrid's stomach twist uncomfortably. Who knew she could still continue to harbor such an intense crush for this fumbling idiot after almost seven months? Astrid would have punched somebody sooner than admit to it straight-faced, but it was the truth. And besides, almost everyone in Berk knew her infatuation with him—despite her knowledge. Just the way she looked at him was enough, even though they hardly made contact ever since that day she abruptly kissed him in the happiness of the moment upon his revival. She was glad she did it, but she was still embarrassed; she did it front of Stoick! And Spitelout! Ohh, the embarrassment. But she was glad Snotlout finally stopped flirting with her so outwardly, though she knew he looked at her backside every time she walked away from him. Boys.

But, Hiccup? Gods, no. She would never have thought he could give her the topsy-turvies the fairytales would talk about that her sister would read almost every night.

Here she was, Astrid Hofferson, worrying about her unmanageable hair like any fifteen-year-old girl would do in front of her crush, feeling strangely disembodied. She never felt this way! When she did whenever Hiccup was around she would punch or kick him at any stupid thing he said to hide it. She was supposed to be the tough Viking woman the Hofferson's were known for, for Odin's sakes!

"So… uhm. What do you want me to… do?" Astrid never had anyone ask her for a sketch. At least now he was asking. But she didn't even think he would actually do it; she had felt embarrassed after she said it the other day, giving reason why she walked away so fast. _Oh, man_.

Hiccup smiled, his eyes intent and focused on the sheet and every few seconds he would glance up at her for the briefest of moments and flick his eyes back to his sketchbook. There was an outline of silver around him, making the rims of his hair a silvery white. It reminded her of the night she first kissed his cheek at the cove after he took her for the best dragon ride of her life. That night changed everything.

"Just stay as still as possible," he said slowly to his book, and then looked up at Astrid with the same crooked grin. Astrid flushed. "Ooh, Astrid Hofferson blushing?" Hiccup teased, studying the outline of her wonderfully messy hair.

"Am not," Astrid flinched as if to punch him, but remembered his strict instructions. She watched his mouth settle into a straight, thoughtful line, concentrating so hard on his sketch. "So focused," Astrid commented.

He smiled in acknowledgment, then his mouth flattened slowly again. He couldn't mess this up! He had to draw it perfectly. His hand was deft, shading around her nostrils and the inner corner of her eyes lightly at first, and then darkened it when he got the general shape. Hiccup was quiet as much as Astrid, the only noise between them being the slight ruffle of Hiccup's hand on the parchment, his sleeve rolled up to his elbow to reveal a pale and freckly arm.

While drawing, Hiccup's mind usually wandered on many subjects, and he often spoke to himself or to Toothless when he was around to sort out the thoughts from the random ones to the logical. This was no different. "Have you ever thought that… the other villages are still killing dragons?"

Astrid let herself push her brows together for a second, and then went back to the calm, relaxed and slightly anxious face Hiccup needed to draw her. "Well… I haven't _thought _about it… but I'm sure they still are. It's really only us and the Meatheads that are at peace with them." Astrid instantly regretted opening her mouth when Hiccup's expression darkened, looking forlorn and disheartened. For once, she felt a sting of apology. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay. You're probably right," Hiccup said in a somewhat quiet voice, letting his hand rest on his knee to look up at her, sighing. "Somebody's got to tell them."

Astrid felt frustrated. She wanted to apologize, but that was a very un-Viking thing to do. She hated seeing him so torn, amazingly, but yet at the same time she wanted to scold him and tell him to buck-up. He was a man. He wasn't supposed to be all mopey. But then again, Hiccup was very good at defying tradition and Astrid thought he was really rubbing off on her.

"Quit worrying about it. The word will pass around," Astrid formed her words carefully, making sure she didn't sound too soft.

The corners of Hiccups mouth twitched, and he bent his head to continue drawing. Astrid watched him, almost seeing the thoughts swirling in his head as she fiddled with the hem of her tunic. She was amazed at how quickly he drew but kept so much detail. She was quite astounded. Naturally, there weren't a whole lot of artists on Berk, so it was interesting to find out Hiccup had honed his own skills and was completely self-taught. In a way, Astrid was a bit jealous because her drawings of people were stick figures, sometimes not even. And, of course, she hadn't taught herself the basics of axe-play, but Hiccup had learned the very, very basics of portrait drawing on his own, going even beyond that. Astrid thought she wasn't nearly as good at fighting like her older sisters, much less any woman around Berk. She was still fifteen, Hiccup sixteen, and yet Hiccup was a Grand Artist already. Thor almighty!

Hiccup disrupted her train of thoughts with a light, airy laugh as a gust of salty sea breeze blew past them. "I didn't think you would actually follow my directions."

Astrid guffawed. "I follow directions very well, thank you very much. Mother tells me to sew, I sew. Tell me to put out fire, I'll put out fire. Tell me to sit still, and I'll sit still for as long as you'd like," she smiled confidently.

"Then I'm glad, because your hair is proving difficult to draw," Hiccup said with a smile, looking up and squinting at her bangs.

"It's always difficult. The only time I can let it down is in the summer otherwise I'll be eaten alive," Astrid watched his maroon-colored hair gently flow with the faint breeze coming from the ocean, noting every light brown clump of hair highlighted from the sun.

"I think it's pretty," Hiccup said without really thinking about it, and a few seconds later his words registered in his wishy-washy brain and he instantly retracted into himself like a turtle. "U-uhm… I mean-,"

"No, it's okay," Astrid interrupted with a light, very un-Astrid-like giggle. "You don't have to be embarrassed. I think your hair is pretty too," there wasn't much lie there, in all honesty.

Hiccup scrunched his brows tight, narrowing his eyes. "What? My hair isn't supposed to be 'pretty'."

"I know. I was just teasing. I like your freckles," Astrid made herself say it because it was nagging her and nagging her. She really did like his cute, adorable freckly face. She would think up ridiculous scenarios in her head while in bed trying to sleep where she told him. Astrid would mentally kick herself, but she found it thrilling nonetheless.

"Uh, thanks," Hiccup offered a lopsided smile, and then things went quiet. Hiccup went back to sketching and Astrid watched his hand move on the parchment.

Hiccup was dying to ask the question that has been fermenting in his mind for seven awfully long months. Every two seconds he would almost make himself ask it, but found himself doubting the outcome. _What if she doesn't like me? I'll die for sure, then—of total embarrassment. She probably hasn't tried to kiss me at all, other than a few days ago, or hardly talked to me because I'm still the wimp I've always been. Ugh, my life. _

While carefully shading her eyes and getting the twinkle just right, Hiccup noticed Astrid flicked her bangs to the side. "Oh, here," he reached up, out of _impulse_, and fixed them because she did something funky. "You messed them up…," and when his finger tips grazed the soft skin of her forehead, he almost leapt back in surprise. But, somehow, he was held there like an anchor when Astrid locked eyes with him, and he could almost feel her temperature rise under his fingers as she blushed.

Something passed between then that neither Hiccup nor Astrid could place. Then—_Oh, Gods_—Hiccup found himself leaning forward against his very eager will. _Wow, _was the only thing racing in his head next to nothingness.

_Holy crap! Is this happening? What timing…,_ Astrid screamed to herself, almost feeling sick with how hot she had become, and her rapidly beating heart, at the pace of a war drum, wasn't helping matters.

Then, ooh, just at the moment when the graze of each others lips were imminent—

"M'Baa."

Hiccup and Astrid jumped away form each other like they were both poked with red hot pikes. Their chests heaved at the unwanted interruption of the sheep, Hiccup's sketchbook splayed out upside down in the grass next to him. The sheep chose such an opportune moment to wander over to their patch of grass, looking tired and expectantly at them as if urging them to carry on, chewing on a lump of grass.

It was Astrid who started laughing first. She laughed loudly, clutching her sides and tossing her head back, shoulders shaking with delight. Hiccup watched her shuddering, and he found himself crescendo from a light chuckle into a full-on rumbling laugh. Astrid had tears in her eyes that the furiously wiped away as Hiccup fell onto his back, his face hurting and his stomach aching.

Something, in this ridiculous nonsense moment, clicked. _Something_. When Hiccup walked Astrid back home and watched her climb the same route she took down to her bed room window, he couldn't place it, couldn't quite put a finger on whatever it was. It bit and gnawed at him until barely morning of the next day, the sun just hardly over the horizon. Hiccup was keeping himself awake, but at the sight he couldn't resist any more.

The next day his mind was totally occupied on that scene the night before and he played it over and over again, from start to finish, up and down, inside and out. His mind wandered over the brief second he thought he was going to kiss Astrid for the first time, _actually_, in seven months, but he went back to what he couldn't find or understand.

Hiccup had gone off with Toothless most of the day, flying around Berk, stopping to sketch something every now and then. He didn't return to the village until almost dusk, most of the villagers turning in for dinner. Hiccup stopped by the forge to pick up a charcoal pencil because he broke the one he was using before earlier that day. He decided to take a walk back to give Toothless a break, and to take a little detour to stroll by Astrid's house. He wasn't going to do it, but Toothless nudged him in the direction because he had talked about it all day to his best friend, and Toothless wasn't going to take 'no' as an answer.

Hiccup had been nervous and jumpy the second he took a left onto her street, and seeing her up ahead made his palms sweaty. He grew more embarrassed as he approached, fearing Astrid would know his motives an make fun of him or avoid him again.

Before walking by, he shook himself loose and ruffled hair back into formation. Astrid was outside with her mother, taking down the laundry they had set up that afternoon, folding the linens and placing them in the wicker baskets Valka Ingerman made. Astrid looked up when she saw the unmistakable black Night Fury and his russet-haired rider shuffling next to him. She raised a hand in a wave, and Hiccup timidly waved back, trying out a suave smile for size. He felt stupid and weird, so he reduced it to a simple lopsided smile she liked best on him.

Toothless smiled as well, prancing over to Astrid to give her a sloppy lick to the face. "Aww, Toothless!" Astrid said at first in disgust, wiping the slime off while Ingrid laughed at her daughter's misfortune. But when she looked up at Toothless looking at her with wide, wide green eyes, she had to smile and scratch his chin.

Toothless bounded away back to Hiccup, who smiled at her in apology. "Come on, buddy. You know better than to give away nasty dragon saliva," Hiccup teased, and Toothless nudged his arm, grumbling in happy disagreement.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder one last time, seeing Astrid jump and hurriedly rip down linen from the line, making the clips fly, turning to hide her beet red face. Hiccup chuckled briefly, and then it hit him.

He knew.

He ran the rest of the way home; Toothless racing after him like it was a game, beating him to the door. Hiccup leaped and bounded up the sloping stone pathway that broke into stairs now and then, and threw open the door. Stoick wasn't home yet, so inside it was still quiet dark despite the open smoke hatch near the ceiling letting the fading light in. Hiccup hobbled over to his bed and underneath his pillow he produced his sketch book. ON the small table next to his bed he took the charcoal pencil and flipped to the last page of his sketchbook that was drawn on last, k finding the sketch of Astrid form the night before.

Hastily, he scribbled at the very bottom right corner, the title of the slightly unfinished piece.

"Beginning"

He felt it fit right.

00

"And we welcome today, me brothers and sisters, Thoron! From thee Meatheads!"

The whole hall shook with the battle cries of the Vikings of Berk, and, being Vikings, they were very loud. Whistles joined in as well when Stoick the Vast shook hands with the messenger from the Meathead Island just across the isle, and one of Stoick's greatest friends. They clapped their big meaty hands on each others backs, loud thumps just audible over the constant orchestra of Viking cries. Stoick went to say some other things Hiccup wasn't paying any attention to, focused more on Astrid's fingers swirling in his palm and tracing patterns on the rough creases, hidden under the darkness of the table. He laughed at Tuffnut as he shoved lefse (1) up a snoozing drunks' nose.

Stoick ends his amusing and artfully effortless speech with Thoron from the Meatheads and his crewmen dispersing along with the villagers to find some grub and a place to sit. Snotlout and Ruffnut are rolling around laughing at Tuffnut and the drunk he's harassing while Fishlegs warns the male twin about the dangers of shoving foreign objects up into the nostril cavities. All the while, Astrid and Hiccup are semi-watching, just feigning they were actually paying attention with their minds in their own little bubble.

"Here, Tuff, shove some sugar up his nose to go with that lefse," Ruffnut says, pushing over a bowl of sugar in Tuffnut's direction.

"Nah, dude, you need to swab on some butter. Make him all pretty and shiny," Snotlout snorted, using a butter knife to dab some butter onto the drunk's mouth like pale rouge.

"Oh, come on, you guys. Snotlout—," Fishlegs swiped the knife from his hand and gave him a scolding glare. "Leave him alone. You can't just do that! He'll wake up and see you guys and he'll punch you first."

"'Legs, he's _knocked out. _He's not waking up any time soon," Snotlout retorted.

"Yeah! We've been doing this for _how _long and he hasn't woken up yet? There's no way in Hel he's waking up after only passing out for, like, an hour?" Tuffnut replied snappily, flapping around the sheet of lefse like a flag. "Get real, 'Legs."

Ruffnut punched Fishlegs in the shoulder and he yelped and rubbed the offended area of skin, and when she looked away, Fishlegs smiled. Hiccup only got to notice it for a second before his giant of a father sat down at the head of the long table he sat at, Thoron sitting at the corner next to him. Hiccup looked past Astrid to him, watching Thoron's brownish-blond beard jump as he laughed. Astrid tilted her head forward, blocking the view of the blacksmith, and she smiled at him. Hiccup's eyes focused on her and then he smiled at her lovely face.

Not many words passed between them as they just looked at each other, just simple. Astrid looked to the table first, then laid her full hand on Hiccup's knee, then looked to Stoick like nothing happened. Hiccup's heart jumped a bit from the smallest and simplest of touches, and he enjoyed her warm skin pressing through the thick linen of his pants.

After he had taken Astrid out to the sheep fields a week ago to sketch her, she had become a lot friendlier toward him, and he had no complaints. Well, friendlier can be more defined as "flirty". She was tossing him wide grins when he spoke, sometimes at the dumbest of things, confusing Hiccup beyond belief. _Why can't girls have manuals?_, he wondered to himself one day while drawing an extremely detailed door frame. So sketching definitely broke the ice, he decided, and he was glad it was his doing that initiated it. From it, this whole week his confidence was swelling, so naturally he was a bit flirty back, loyal to his trademark grin. But he was really enjoying this secret thing going on right now underneath the table. Astrid's fingers were gently kneading his knee and his liked it, actually. He could keep secrets. Secrets were fun.

Giant platters of food were set out on the tables in between the wooden plates and pewter goblets brought out by beautiful barmaids and the cook's assistants. There were heaping piles of potatoes and peppers and squash, big golden turkey's, piles of juicy mutton sprinkled with dashes of spice and seasoning, whole pigs set out on blankets of lettuce. It was the beginning of the harvest season, so naturally there was an abundance of food for this feast, the third this week due to weddings and such. It would be a surprise if Hiccup didn't gain at least twenty pounds and the rest of Berk at least a ton all together by the end of the harvest season.

Tuffnut and Snotlout piled their plates until nothing else could fit, and looking over at Fishlegs, he had about three the exact same, except masterfully piled like parts to a puzzle and double the size. Fishlegs just smiled at their incredulous faces and dug in. Hiccup, on the other hand, was much more modest, with a big turkey leg, a mound of potatoes and a few pieces of bread. Astrid laughed at him for her plate was much the same, and so she speared a small flank of mutton and dropped it on his plate and scooped some vegetables onto it as well.

"I prefer to take it _slow_," Hiccup said with an unamused face as Astrid stacked on a piece of pork.

"Well, eat up!" she sat down on the bench after standing up to reach some other food spread out on the table and acted like she didn't hear him speak. "You're the skinniest one here. Thoron's about the size of you and I combined," Astrid said with a mouthful of bread and Hiccup looked over at the excessively burly Viking to match Stoick, flexing his bicep that could've passed as a tree trunk.

"Including Fishlegs. And maybe Snotlout," Hiccup played along, and Astrid smiled at him with a tight mouth, cheeks ballooning like a chipmunk's. Hiccup had to laugh; she looked too adorable, even if it was a stupid thing to laugh at. Astrid punched him while he laughed, finished chewing and swallowed, and joined in.

Mead Hall was particularly loud this night because the Meatheads were known party-goers and rambunctious drunks, and Thoron caused quite a stir later on. He was hopping on tables and singing ridiculous songs suggesting very naughty subjects, inducing many laughs, describing very interesting stories with intense drunken fervor, and just causing an all-around ruckus. Within the few hours of the welcoming feast, there were drunken women sitting on men's laps, lifting up skirts, loud music enough to rattle the candle and bone chandeliers and wooden rafters. The weddings of the days previously weren't all about drinking, mostly dancing and eating, so some of the well-seasoned Vikings were taking the plunge into next-morning-hangover partying.

Once or twice, an intoxicated young man, older than either Hiccup or Astrid, had come up to the beautiful blonde warrior and asked for her hand in a dance. Hiccup quickly found out Astrid hated dancing, and punched them in the face. Hiccup was glad he didn't have to stand up so boldly and punch a pathetic drunk for his lady-friend because he knew full-well she could pummel any one to the ground. And that he might break his hand.

When the night started to quiet down and people left for the comfort of their beds, Thoron sat down just barely across from Hiccup, accompanied by Stoick, who was playing the role of bored, unamused, ungrateful, annoyed babysitter to prevent him from completely flattening Berk. Hiccup didn't fail to notice this, and it was painfully evident when Stoick looked to his son across the table with his hand rubbing his eyebrow in quiet annoyance. Hiccup had to smile apologetically but Thorn caught Hiccup's attention before anything else could pass between father and son.

"Is this Hiccup? Yer son? The one ye've bin tolkin' a'bout?" Thoron pointed a meaty sausage finger at Hiccup, who blushed slightly, and punched Stoick lightly in the arm to get his attention.

Stoick about snapped at him, but gathered up his emotions well like a chief should, and he responded. "Yes. He is."

"Well, Thor almighty! 'Ee's a small lad, ain't he not?" Thoron rumbled a laugh like a bolt of lightning from Thor himself, slapping the table and making Ruffnut's goblet topple over. Hiccup rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Jus' two weeks agoo, I ha' seen a dragon ten times 'is size. Big, muscle-y, ol' thing. And guess wha' I did wit it?" Thoron let his arms fly as he spoke, eyes pretty glazed over and his words slurring together through his thick accent so it was almost unintelligible. He knocked Ruffnut in the head with his elbow more than a few times, pushing her into her brother, who pushed her back, and they ended up wrestling on the floor together.

Fishlegs, always fully absorbed into any type of dragon story with his eyes wide, he answered Thoron. "Did you get a chance to ride it?"

"Noo! O' course not, lad! I did somefin bett'a!" Thoron bellowed. Hiccup was mirroring Stoick's deadpan stare, impervious to drunken rambling. However, Astrid was showing some signs of interest, Fishlegs was still bouncing in his seat from excitement, Snotlout was intent on finding out some cool facts about dragons from an older Viking, and some other villagers who were still awake were drifting over to listen. Alongside being a crazy drunk, Thoron the Wild was known for his stories; from Berk to the mainland down to the Viking settlements in Ireland.

"Uh'pon seeing tha' ghastly beest, I cawled all me men togetha, and wit _won _swing, I speared thae beast! Damned thing! Still, he bit and went afta me, gooshing all ova' tha place! Smelly, i' was. I swar, I steel smell me beard full o' his guts because he goot on top o' me! Threw me to tha' ground! Heavy! At least tree Vikings togetha. But I _shoved _him off! An' thar he lay, dead as a rat wit a brooken neck. But, he musta ben rootting on tha inside't…," Thoron went to continue his horrifying story, completely oblivious to the fallen faces of pure disgust, wide-eyed in sickened awe. Killing dragons? That was the past, utterly the past in Berk, so far behind it seemed primal.

But not anywhere else.

The only thing running through Hiccup's mind (other than keeping himself from throwing up) was the conversation he held with Astrid just a few days ago at the sheep fields about the same exact thing.

_Well… I still think they are… it's really only us and the Meatheads that are at peace with them. _Obviously that bit wasn't entirely true. He heard from Thuggory that they were all trying to domesticate the dragons with some difficulties, but obviously there was still killings going on unsupervised. Thoron was still ruthlessly spilling guts of dragons and _laughing _about it. Hiccup realized this with a sick, uncomfortable turn of his stomach. _I should have known_, he thought, feeling dizzy, clutching his stomach. _Dragons are still being killed. _

"…an' then, tha bas'tard musta cawled others because a 'ole flock o' them came _swoooping _down—an' one o' them flew off wit won'a me men! An'—,"

"Thoron, that's quite enough," Stoick interjected at last from letting his friend go too far with this story.

"Wha'? Don' ye still… ya know… spill Nadder's guts? Don' ye rememba, Stoick, as lads we would do tha' all thee time?" Thorn lowered his voice an octave, and almost seemed to be genuinely hurt, but he started chuckling again as if remembering the good old times.

"Those days are done, Thoron. We doon't kill dragons anymore. Din't ya see all those dragons outside't? Alive?" Stoick said, but Thoron only seemed to hear the first and second sentences.

His face got all screwed up and Hiccup was afraid for a second he would punch his father across the face, but instead he spat, "Ye don' kill dragons no more? What! Tha's all blasphemy! Yer betrayin' traditions, Stoick! _Traditions_! How could—," he swiped off all the plates and goblets off the table with one sweep of his arm. Hiccup and Astrid jumped back in surprise when Thoron leaped out of his seat and overturned a table behind him.

"TRADITIONS!" Thoron shouted every two seconds, stumbling over his big feet. Spitelout and a Stoick and a few other husky men attempted to calm him down, grabbing his arms and pinning him down, but he wailed around like a child forbidden to play with their favorite toy.

In the sudden brawl, Hiccup managed to slip out of the Hall without being noticed, even by Astrid. He ran as fast as could with what legs he had to his house across the village, stopping to heave his stomach's contents behind a few fish barrels. Running up the slow sloping steps, he tripped over a loose stone and fell on his face, the bridge of his nose coming into harsh contact with the edge of the stairs to his front door. Hiccup rolled over and his hands flew to his instantly bleeding nose and he let out a long pained yell.

"Aww, cum awn!" Hiccup's nose spurted blood like a fountain on his lap, staining his tunic. He groaned and used the railing to leverage himself up to a standing position, instantly greeted with a throbbing headache like Thor was using his head as an anvil to mold his bolts of lightning.

Hiccup pushed the door open and fell inside, clumsily closing the door behind him. Toothless, previously curled up on Hiccup's bed, had heard his rider yell out in pain and had run to the door, greeting him with an intensely concerned look on his face. As Hiccup walked forward, Toothless backed up, trying to figure out why his boy's face was bleeding. With his tail, Toothless knocked over a couple of chairs while Hiccup tried getting around him with his blurred vision.

"Toofless! Move it!" Hiccup shoved the black dragon's massive head aside, but he wouldn't relent. Now licking his face and hand covering his nose, Hiccup groaned in frustration. "Bawddy! We're goi'ing fo' a ride!" he said with thick, gurgly enthusiasm. Toothless immediately sat down and started wagging his tail, excitement clearly written across his reptilian features. "_Finally…,_" Hiccup whispered to himself, walking over to where a rag hung on the wall in the kitchen, stuffing most of it up his trickling nose.

Hiccup really didn't have a whole lot to pack, maybe only one mid-sized duffel bag. He was a guy. He honestly didn't need much, and what he did need he could buy anyhow. Being the chief's son and being a narrowly-paid apprentice and saving it all did add up. Toothless surprisingly sat patiently for Hiccup to finish, but that went slightly down the drain when Hiccup wrestled his saddle and tack on, stringing it all together so he could ride decently. He put on his own riding gear when he was finished and sighed in relief.

But he forgot one thing.

"My sketchbook!" Hiccup slapped his forehead. "It's at the forge! Crap!"

Hiccup really, really wanted to leave now and book it before anyone noticed he was gone. He didn't want anyone in his way, much less trying to persuade him not to leave Berk because he _was _going. Nobody could tell him otherwise; he was stubborn much like his father, and one of the scarce, true Viking traits he possessed.

Hiccup quickly debated the pros and cons on rushing to the forge to retrieve his beloved sketchbook, but finally said 'the Hel with it', and leads Toothless out the door with his duffel bag attached to the saddle. In many instances before this, Hiccup needed to get to the forge without being noticed, and this was the perfect time to thank his usually unlucky stars that he knew many routes around the village. He took the shortest route and crept through the shadows, keeping his footfalls light with Toothless shuffling behind him. And Hiccup also thanked the Gods Toothless was relatively small compared to the other dragons and also for his black appearance instead of being bright blue like a Nadder.

Turning the corner with his back to the wall, Hiccup looked left and right to see if ht road was all clear. Deciding it was, he ran across the road pulling Toothless behind him. He ducked into the stall and tilted his head back, glad that he made it over safely.

_Now, just to quickly run in and get it…_, Hiccup thought as he wiped his swollen nose and the dried blood down his chin, groaning at the droplets down his chest and the small patch of blood on his lap. Walking inside, he threw the rag into a waste bin and headed toward his back room, oblivious to the figure sitting on the counter waiting for him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Hiccup yelped and jumped about five feet into the air, knocking over a couple of broken shields and dull swords with a loud din of clashing metal. He spun around to see who had spoken and who nearly made his poor heart fail.

It was none other than Astrid, and Hiccup had to whisper "of course". He blinked at her, corralling his breath into a reasonable pace, and scratched his head. "I'm not going any where."

"You're full of shit," Astrid hopped off the counter and walked over to him. "Why are you so full of blood? What happened? Is it your nose?" she said as she approached but the last thing she looked was concerned. Hiccup was now becoming a bit afraid.

"I-I fell and hit my nose," he replied lamely, his arms now glued to his sides as Astrid stood in front of him, looking him up and down. "A-and… my _nose _started bleeding. Yep. Bleeding nose. So I'm all bloody. Stupid, right? Heh, heh—,"

Astrid squinted her eyes, effectively cutting him off. She could be doe-eyed one second and terrifying the next. Just barely ten minutes ago, she was all… _not _this angry. Now she looked like she was about to rip his head off, hands on her skull-adorned hips and tight mouth.

"I know what you're planning on doing. Don't try and fool me," she said sternly, taking a step back.

Hiccup visibly deflated and sighed. There was no use in arguing against her, he knew. He tried once when they were kids and he promptly got a kick to the groin and a mouthful of dirt. "Okay, I'm going. I'm leaving. But not for long!" he jumped and held his arms up in defense as he saw Astrid's shoulders square and her hands fist up. "I swear! I'm only going to the Meatheads and—and some other clans around here, I swear. Please don't hurt me."

Hiccup inched away with every word he spoke, backing up into his work room and looking over his shoulder, glancing around as if looking for an exit. Astrid continued advancing on him, a thin light brown brow raised in challenge.

"Oh, really. You know, for some _weird _reason, I don't believe you," Hiccup squeaked when his lower back hit his work table, now completely cornered.

"Y-you don't? It's always good to have some, some…," Hiccup scrambled for a word to say. "faith! It's always good to have some faith, As-Astrid."

Astrid rolled her eyes and backed off from the poor blathering idiot, crossing her arms. So he was gong to actually go through with it, she supposed. _I didn't think he actually would_, Astrid thought as an uncomfortable lump unfurled itself in her stomach. She really didn't think he would have the guts, but lately he's been proving himself a bit gutsy. Last week she didn't expect him to be drawing pictures of her, much less throwing rocks at her window. Well, she supposed, it was inbred in him. He was the first to train and tame a dragon and ride it, but actually leaving Berk for an extended period of time? No. Not a change in Midgard.

Astrid sighed and slightly turned away from him, displeased that she was feeling tingly and weak and that he slacked in response. "I have _faith_, you idiot!" she snapped at him, but it was less potent than before. "I have plenty of faith," she muttered lamely and mentally kicked herself.

Hiccup smiled a bit, but just enough so she wouldn't see. "Then show me some and look at me," he replied, tilting his head, having his bangs sweep across his forehead in very soft way as Astrid noticed from the corner of her eye.

She did look at him, but through her bangs and didn't move much to face him. She was puckering her mouth in such a way that Hiccup wanted to kiss her again, but he put a tentative hand on her shoulder instead. "I'll be back. I promise you. And I keep promises until I die so you can trust me," Hiccup shrugged and huffed out an airy laugh.

Astrid furrowed her brows and Hiccup removed his hand like she was on fire, but then to his amazement, Astrid flung her arms around his neck, clumsily kissing him with their teeth clashing. Hiccup truly almost fainted, but he let his eyes flutter closed and he kissed her back until Astrid eased off him. She abruptly ended it, and then buried her chin in her arms as she hugged him. Hiccup squeezed back, amused at this odd moment, still flustered as ever but feeling in a good place.

"You _better _come back, stupid, or I swear to Freyja that I'll make sure you never have children," Astrid mumbled into her arms, deciding she liked shy and smart Hiccup rather than brash and gutsy Hiccup.

"And somehow I believe you," Hiccup replied, laughing into her perfect yellow hair that smelled like leaves, ale and strawberries. He let his arms unwind from her back and she did the same. They had an awkward moment where they just stared at each other, blushing, two inches apart. "Uhm… sketchbook," Hiccup stated, sticking a thumb over his shoulder to his desk while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure…," Astrid muttered and stepped back, her stomach doing weird flip-flops she usually took for indigestion, but it only seemed to happen when this idiot was around… hm.

He found his black leather sketchbook and waved it, smiling. Astrid raised her brows and bit her lip, smiling too. She looked very… un-Astrid-like when she bit her lip, almost timid. Had Hiccup ever seen her do that?

"Gotta go," he said with a certain twinge in his voice, walking out of the backroom with a bounce in his squeaky gait.

Astrid was so blank-minded she hardly noticed he left until he tripped over a fallen shield outside. "You better come back, you hear me?" Astrid shouted, and walked out of the room, almost laughing at Hiccup holding onto the edge of a counter holding his shin. He grinned and hobbled out as she almost seemed to shoo him. "Remember your promise!" she tried keeping her voice stern, but it faltered in laughter when Hiccup was escaping her like it was a game, looking over his shoulder and finding his way to the door leading outside to the stall where Toothless was sniffing around.

"I won't!" he called with a smile, mounting Toothless and leading him out from under the stall's roof.

"Remember! Children!" Astrid rushed out from underneath the overhang and watched Hiccup and Toothless take off. A gust of wind from Toothless' powerful wings blew her bangs back, tilting her head to watch the speck of black fly into the full-mooned sky.

Astrid watched the sky for a few seconds longer after the dot had disappeared seconds ago. She had a brief, fleeting thought that she would one day marry the freckled face genius.

"What!" Astrid yelled at herself and kicked a rock, grumbling on her way home how girly she was becoming. But it was concluded that she was already going to be hopelessly entangled in him. Whenever it was.

00

(1) Lefse is a Norwegian bread thing that's made from potatoes. It's made into a sheet and you spread butter and sugar on it and cinnamon if you want. It's so good.

I know it's a lot to swallow for one 'brief' prologue, but just bear with me! It'll get shorter because this one was unexpectedly long. My fingers hurt ):

But this chapter is meant to be less serious, a little bit more on the middle-school lovey-dovey type of crush stuff. It'll get more mature.

Holy moley, 13 pages on Word. No more of that. Heh. And about 10,000 words? Yeah. No more.


	2. Chapter 1

Thank you all so much for your reviews! I really appreciate them all! :D

Note: For now on, I'm going to try and update on Thursdays. However, next Thursday I will be up at my cabin. I'm leaving tomorrow and coming back next Saturday, so I will literally be gone for 7 whole days. But, when I do get back, I shall update right away for all you guys! Thanks again!

And the return:

00

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter One

00

"Astrid Finna Hofferson!" The middle name. "Haven't I taught you better stitches than this?"

"Yes, mother, for crying out loud…," Astrid made faces about her mother's talking while her back was turned, putting the sewing basket back in the closet.

"Don't you 'crying out loud' me, young lady!" Ingrid shouted, shaking the handkerchief with flowers and vines embroidering the hem with some _minor _imperfections. Astrid didn't mind sewing, but lately, since her mother was shoving all domestic duties possible down her throat to prep her to become a 'homely' wife, she was itching to get out the house.

"Yeah, mother, I know. But I have to go, I'm supposed to meet Ruff down at the docks," Astrid replied offhandedly, dusting imaginary debris off her dark purple tunic, looking around for something that she was only to pretending to find. Ingrid went on to ramble about something Astrid wasn't paying any attention to, and while she was in her rant, Astrid kissed her mother on the cheek. Ingrid paused, utterly confused, as Astrid went over to the front door to pull on her leather spring boots with only a thin layer of fur lining the inside and a trim around the upper rim.

She hopped on one foot as she pulled the last one on. "Bye, mom!" she said cheerily and she swung open the door and slammed it shut, effectively leaving her mother in confusion.

Astrid visibly relaxed, letting out a long sigh, her tense and square shoulders slackening. It was such a relief to be out of that house. At dawn that morning, Ingrid threw the covers off Astrid and pushed a broom and dustpan and rags into her hands to clean the house, not even out of bed yet and her hair still in a frazzled mess. Ingrid had her daughter clean every last imaginable nook and cranny, dust every surface there ever was, scrape out dirt from between the floorboards and sweep again, and again, and again. She complained until her fingers hurt, and Astrid never complained. Ingrid was a scary woman when business needed to be done, and Astrid had a demonstration of her wrath a few days ago after muttering under her breath, 'this is like boot camp.' Needless to say, Astrid was covered in hay and manure dust from her stupid dragon in the backyard, cackling at her. Astrid never made fun of house work again.

Now mid-afternoon, it was understandable that she was almost spinning in delight. The air was cool, but the sun warmed her skin a very pleasant way. Extraordinary chipper, Astrid said 'hi' to a few passing villagers that she knew, taking note of the greener grass and nearly cloudless sky. It was almost hilarious to see Astrid Hofferson smiling like everything was grand and perfect; the most notorious girl on Berk for exceptional black eyes.

Astrid tossed her long braid over her shoulder, now reaching her lower back and thick as ever, fingering the soft ends tied in the leather band. She mad her way to the docks, going down sloping wooden ramps stuck out of the side of the cliff, walking about the same general path that she took to see Hiccup watching the ships sail off so long ago. Quickly, she set that thought aside to not spoil her mood today, and to her luck, Ruffnut called to her.

"Hey, Astrid! Down here!" the lanky and often obnoxious blonde girl flailed her arms like she was on fire, effectively catching Astrid's attention. Astrid grinned and waved back, rushing down to greet her. Ruffnut had become a significant figure in Astrid's life since dragon training and the two girls bonded like any other on the island, passing gossip like old women, messing around with each other's hair, sleepovers—although all of it in secret, of course. But Ruff was always there for her and Astrid was too despite their cold Viking exteriors. Astrid let Ruffnut sniffle into her shoulder a few months prior when her baby brother died at three days old due to some breathing complications. Astrid found out that she gave very good hugs when Ruffnut muttered it into her shoulder, and she was pleasantly surprised.

But in any case, Ruffnut became Astrid's best friend in no time at all, and what best friends do best, Ruffnut beat Snotlout up whenever he went too far with a smile on her face.

Astrid joined Ruffnut down at the dock, Tuffnut and Snotlout coming around a crate arguing over a fishing pole while Fishlegs, behind them, was having his fun tying different types of fisherman's knots. Astrid didn't mention the boys hanging out with them, kinda, because that would imply Snotlout, and her parents didn't like him at all after their failed courtship.

Over the winter, Astrid was feeling incredibly lonely and let Snotlout swoon over her and they ended up 'hanging out' more than expected, which could be better described as 'make out sessions'. She learned to kiss well with him and by no means was he bad at it after a while, but Astrid always puked a bit inside whenever he was around. She ended their courtship-that-was-really-only-making-out-because-she-was-stupid-and-lonesome after her father, Arnheim, found them behind a shed and almost pummeled them both to the ground. An angry man, it was expected, but Snotlout ran faster than a frightened mouse after that.

Ruffnut sniggered when Snotlout whistled at Astrid, forgetting completely about the fishing pole for a second. Astrid's face paled a little, but she didn't let that stop her from sending him a very dangerous look. Stupid and thick-headed and not-getting-it, Snotlout winked as she sat down on the dock, letting her long legs hang over. Ruffnut almost pulled a muscle laughing.

Pulling off her boots, Astrid hung her feet in the water and Ruffnut did the same, their white thighs almost glowing in the sunlight. They laughed about it and went to their purpose sitting here at the docks: Hot men.

"Ooh, look. It's Helsplitter," Ruffnut pointed to a younger man farther across the bay, shirtless, picking up a crate from the spring raid in Sweden.

"Oh, by Odin, look at those scars. When did he get those?" Astrid said in a low voice so the guys a couple yards over wouldn't hear. She squinted her eyes to see better, moving left and right as he walked back onto the boat to haul off another crate of goods.

"Damn, he is so fine," Ruffnut said in her nasal-y voice, sighing dreamily and rested her elbow on her knee as she kicked her feet in the warming water. "If there was any idiot in Berk I'd be stupid enough to marry, it'd be Helsplitter. Imagine having little Helsplitter babies running around. I mean, with my looks and his perfect, sexy body, they'd be, like, Gods. He would have to fight with Odin to have them."

Astrid laughed at her friends' over-the-top wishful thinking, all just innate fantasies. "Helsplitter isn't anything compared to Bjørnstaud over there," Astrid pointed with her chin to a man about the same age as Helsplitter, unloading another boat, glimmering with sweat.

Ruffnut tossed a 'you've got to be flippin' kidding me' look, her brows intensely furrowed. "Are you insane? Bjørnstaud is nothing compared to Helsplitter. You're crazy, Astrid, I always knew it, but now it's been confirmed. I'm taking my green and gold tunic back, I hope you know," Ruffnut knew that was Astrid's favorite article of clothing of hers, and she's been borrowing it for months. Ruffnut always used the threat on Astrid, but she still took it all too seriously.

"Look at Helsplitter! He's a hairy brown mob of cat fur balls. And his scars aren't even cool. Bjørnstaud, now that is a fine piece of work," Astrid retorted strongly, crossing her arms.

"You just said Helsplitter's scars were hot," Ruffnut replied.

"I was just pointing them out," Astrid said snappishly, pointedly looking in the other direction. The two stubborn girls spying on the ridiculously hot men of Berk much too old for them often led to some disagreements. One time, Ruffnut even pushed Astrid into the barely-thawed water over another guy, which led to Tuffnut and the twins' father to fish them out—quite literally, with nets. Bad times.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and sighed, smirking as a wonderful retort blossomed in her head. "Okay, whatever. Don't care. But we all know how you like those scrawny toothpicks,"

It was subtle, but it was like a bomb exploding right in the few inches of space between the two girls. Astrid felt all her hairs stand on end at Ruffnut's obvious comment referring to the chief's son not-currently-present. Her heart beat a little faster as she slowly turned to look at Ruffnut, joyfully laughing, making her helmet almost bounce off her head.

"Oh, no, you didn't," Astrid whispered quietly, but it could be compared to that of a lion about to pounce and maul their prey.

"Oh—I did. You _bet _I did. Hey, Tuff! Come look at Astrid's face! I just mentioned Hiccup, and—,"

"Well, _we _know that you like those big, burly guys with tree trunks for arms who know all too much about dragon stats," Astrid smirked when Ruffnut's expression fell and crinkled red with embarrassment and rage.

"Astrid! I swear to Odin—!" Ruffnut began but Astrid was already gone, laughing and running down the dock from Ruff. "Get back here, you baby!" Ruffnut jumped up and raced after her, running in between Tuffnut and Fishlegs, pushing her brother into the water as she pushed past.

Astrid wasn't by any means whatsoever the playful type, but just seeing Ruffnut's expression was priceless—and dangerous, she knew. Astrid leapt over coils of rope and unloaded boxes waiting to be sorted through with all the agility of a Viking warrior. Her feet guided her like some type of dance through the men doing their work, weaving swiftly through the groups. Ruffnut, with her famous long legs, was quickly catching up to her without much difficulty, her long ash-blonde braids trailing behind her as she ran.

Jumping over boxes and boxes, she was holding her helmet on, and up ahead she saw Astrid precariously run over wet dock, soaked with the rank smell of the water coming off from the fish. Taking the chance to speed up, Ruffnut took a few bounding leaps and reached Astrid, jumping on her back. Ruffnut's weight on the slim and slender body of Astrid knocked her down onto the dock, and the crazed female twin began poking Astrid's sides and wiggled her fingers under her armpits. Nobody in Berk knew but Ruffnut and Astrid's two older sisters about how ticklish Astrid Hofferson really was, but now it was on public display.

"Ruff—please! Stop—before I—before I kill—AH!" Astrid laughed against her will, writhing and twisting away from Ruffnut, but it was helpless as she sat on her back side and kept her down. "Odin—Gods—RUFF!"

"Say you want Hiccup and all his scrawniness! Say you want his babies!" Ruffnut cackled in fiendish delight, dodging Astrid's elbows attempting to hit home on her face.

"No! No! I won't! Stop! Uncle!"

"Nope! Uncle won't work on me! Say it! Saaay it!"

"Ruff—I'm gonna pee!—,"

"SAY it!"

"No! Ruff—,"

And then, a screech loud enough for Ruffnut to withdraw her hands from Astrid to cover her own ears sounded, and many shouts to 'get down!', 'take cover!' were the only things heard other than the deafening screech. The blast usually accompanied, however, never exploded.

Astrid's eyes shot wide open, as did Ruffnut's, and Astrid looked over her shoulder at her in realization. Quicker than any dragon, Astrid pushed Ruff off of her, accidentally elbowing Ruff in the brow, but Astrid didn't pay attention to it as she ran to the ramps leading up the cliff side. She ran faster than she ever had, her arms swinging and her braid flying, bare feet loudly thumping on the wood as it slightly gave to her weight. Astrid pushed some men aside, running with the lines of men heaving boxes up the ramps.

At the top, she ran farther into the village, looking for the signature black dragon that was previously feared. People were looking into sky, but laughed when realizing that old habits die hard and dragon attacks were no longer a threat, especially during daytime. Astrid ran down a lane, receiving some wide-eyed stares, but she could care less—she had to find the moron that she had been waiting to beat up for two years.

The chief's house in view above the upper village, Astrid saw a crowd congregating just down the path from it, and, somehow, she ran faster. She could see Toothless' tail and his earflaps above the tall Viking heads, but no sign of Hiccup as of yet. But soon… oh, so soon.

Astrid pushed through the crowd, grabbing hunky arms and throwing them aside, pulling on shirts, squeezing her way through the men and women excited to see the chief's son. Finally getting through the last ring, Astrid stumbled into the open space surrounding Hiccup, Toothless, Stoick, and a few others patting the boy on the back.

What Astrid saw next was not Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. What she saw could only be described, in her eyes, a whole other entity.

He was tall, so tall she had to look up at him, but only slightly. He was bigger, but still retained his slim shape, his chest broadened and strong, his arms well toned underneath his green tunic and leather riding gear. And his _hair. Oh, Thor's beard_, Astrid thought, _it's horrible_! To her, he looked like a wet cat; his hair long and almost to his shoulders, uncombed, dirty. And he had _stubble_? What is this? Along his jaw line was a light sprinkling of whiskers. _No. _

Astrid's heart nearly stopped when he stared back at her, mirroring much the same expression. He had never expected Astrid to look so much like Astrid. She looked much the same, except her hair was longer. She had filled out in all the very right places, and her features had grown more womanly as well, and she was even wearing the headband he sent her from the Shetlands. Oh, she looked so lovely to him. And she was wearing a deep purple tunic, a color exceptionally hard to make, but she looked perfect. And her bare legs… Hiccup clearly blushed, earning a few laughs among the silence.

Toothless was about to go and pounce Astrid, but whined and hid behind Hiccup when she took a step forward. Hiccup's eyes widened when he recognized the deathly, malicious glint in her eyes, taking note of her white-knuckled fists. _Oh, crap. _"H-hey, Astrid. Uh-uh, long time, no see…," Hiccup spoke with a deeper voice, his prominent Adam's apple sliding beneath his skin as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. No matter how old Hiccup would get, he would always somehow manage to squeak out his words.

"Yeah, damn right," Astrid muttered darkly, her eyes narrowing into slits that would only be cut with a knife. Hiccup was in much danger at this point, but the ring around them was excited to see the event as if Astrid was a gladiator about to spear a tiger. The crowd had wide eyes and mouths in 'O's, itching to see the upcoming action. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Ruffnut managed to squeeze their way through to the front row. It was as if everyone was placing bets as they whispered; it set Hiccup on edge.

He took a careful step backward, Toothless following behind him and whimpering like a wounded dog. Astrid's imminent wrath was tangible like fire and Hiccup was burning. "Hey, now. Please… please don't—,"

WHAM!

Astrid's fist swung so hard and fast Hiccup didn't even have time to register she was moving before he was decked in the face. He didn't feel anything until he staggered back and the crowd erupted in cheers and claps and 'Ooh's!' His hand flew to his mouth were he felt a lot of blood pooling, and wiggling his tongue around, he dislodged a tooth. Spitting it out onto his hand in a slimy mixture of blood and saliva, was one of Hiccup's teeth.

"You punched my tooth out!" he almost shrieked in pure horror, his mouth throbbing wildly.

"Ohh, damn!" Snotlout jumped from a few feet away. "She got you good!"

"Hah, look at him! He looks like he's foaming blood at the mouth!" Tuffnut pointed out and he and his twin cackled in their strange humor that nobody understood.

Hiccup just stared at Astrid, slightly hunched over from her impact still, blinking in utter disbelief. She was so _mad. _Hiccup knew she would be, but to actually punch his tooth out? He greatly underestimated her. In fact, he usually did, but he honestly thought sending her little souvenirs would settle that a bit. He took his tooth in his other hand, holding it between his thumb and fore finger to flick the blood and spit mixture off his hand, and crouching he wiped his palm in the grass. Astrid was still huffing and puffing at him, feeling not quite done. He wasn't getting off with a simple missing tooth.

The crowd began dispersing, thinking the action was done, and Hiccup found it a good time to speak. "I'm sorry, Astrid! I really—,"

"Don't even! Don't even try!" she yelled ferociously and reeled an arm back to punch him square in the nose, but something surprising happened; something that nobody thought would ever happen.

Hiccup blocked her throw, her fist ending in his palm with a crisp _thap_. Her eyes widened, but just as quickly she brought back her other arm and attempted again, but Hiccup did the same. She withdrew one of her fists to punch him again, but he wheeled around her and she stumbled into the Toothless' head. With her signature battle cry, she recoiled and ran back at him. Hiccup was expecting another punch to the face, so he didn't see her leg swinging into his groin.

The male part of the crowd remaining winced as Hiccup buckled like a collapsing stall, biting his lip hard and squeezing his eyes shut as tears threatened to push past, hardly uttering a breath. One lonesome tear fell out of the side of his eye as Astrid stood over him triumphantly, crossing her arms.

Astrid picked up her dirty foot and pushed on his cheek with it, making sure to rub his skin around. "That's what you get, asshole. I told you that you wouldn't have children," she said in a low voice, poison lacing every word she spoke. Swiftly, Astrid moved her foot from his cheek and spun on her heel and stomped off, none too happy.

"Ohh, duuude," Tuffnut said first, coming over to crouch next to Hiccup. "I thought you were gonna die for a second,"

"Me… too," Hiccup sputtered out, unraveling himself from his groin-holding fetal position. Snotlout stuck a hand out and Hiccup took it, standing up to his full height. Now taller than Snotlout and Tuffnut by a few inches, he was still shorter than Fishlegs was now, and only one or two inches shorter than his monster of a father. Hiccup could now obviously be considered a 'true' Viking because of his obvious muscles, but that still didn't change his boyish looks. Big green eyes, freckles still scattered across his face, long hair, slender but toned body, and only eighteen years old.

"Where's your tooth?" asked Fishlegs, meshing his way into the group.

Hiccup opened his palm, displaying his tooth. Luckily, it wasn't going to be obvious that he was a tooth missing because it was about the third one over from the left of his mouth.

"Missing leg, now missing tooth," Stoick said with a hearty, rumbling chuckle, clapping his son on the back, and for once he didn't stagger or fly ten feet.

"I'm becoming more and more like Gobber," Hiccup said with a light laugh. Sure, even though Astrid was super pissed at him and he was now feeling his mouth swell like a balloon, he really was glad to be home. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and part of his sleeve, he didn't realize blood and drool were still dripping from his chin like he was a rabid dog. _Cool. _

Gobber, standing next to Stoick, laughed the loudest out of all of them. "Yeh cer'ainly arr, lad," he nodded proudly like and apprentices' master would. "Now, for Thor's sake, yeh could be more like me if ya get yerself to tha' forge. I've stacked up a whooole pile for ye an' its bin waitin' fer two years."

Hiccup groaned and his friends said bye to him, running off to do some more exciting things, but he was positive he would see them again later that night. "I'll be by later, Gobber. Just gotta unpack and stuff,"

"Ye', ye', but down't waste yer time," Gobber smiled jokingly and waved him off, walking down the path with his distinct Gobber-hobble. Stoick smiled widely at his son as they walked up to the front door of the biggest lodge on Berk, yet still modest. They had a lot of catching up to do.

00

Hiccup was welcomed back to Berk after two years of travel with a wild party. Vikings always had an excuse for celebrating anything and everything. Hiccup was offered a pint of mead at the beginning but he drank it slowly so by the time he slipped outside unnoticed an hour or two later it was empty. It was the first party of the harvest season, the beginning of summer, and one of many celebrations to come.

Hiccup was unused to so much attention, especially by the people of Berk. People asked for him to tell stories of his adventures, but he didn't get very far before remembering a crucial detail or going off on another subject or sputtering out incoherent words. He still didn't like talking in front of large crowds because he hated his hands getting sweaty and he hated how his knees seemed to bounce and hit each other. Eventually people stopped listening to him and he was perfectly fine with that, but the endless offerings of mead or ale didn't cease. He had to turn down at least fifteen mugs.

Hiccup mostly sat and watched the villagers, feeling like he had almost three years before he ever found his love of dragons, feeling seen but unnoticed like a leaf in a tree among the hundreds like it. But Hiccup found content and solace in this instead of uneasiness; he was so happy to finally be home with all the people he knew and cared for more than any of them would ever know. He looked at them with kindness and knowing rather than disappointment and shame, feeling just right at home. This _was _his home, and he missed it more than he realized. He thought that seeing the world outside Berk would be a relief from his fetters and constant shame, but he found himself becoming awfully homesick.

He knew teaching other Viking tribes about dragons would be no easy task, and the second island he went to after the Meatheads' he was almost shot down and killed with a fire ball, and the others after that were much the same. After telling everyone he was the chief of Berk's son and setting up alliances was he finally able to get down to business. Hiccup was honestly surprised he and Toothless both made it home in one piece by the way some of the tribes reacted. After visiting about a dozen villages and saving countless dragons, Hiccup's teachings did spread as Astrid had predicted, and, as it turned out, he became incredibly well-respected and renowned. By the end of his little adventure people were gawking at him and gossiping about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his trusty dragon Toothless. They were becoming Viking legends.

But, he didn't have a solid home for two years, and now he really wanted to flop down onto his bed and roll around in his covers until he was wound up like a cocoon and just stay there forever. Toothless was already home, stuffed like a turkey with fish and curled up on his favorite rug, probably already snoozing away. Though to Hiccup's dismay, things were not _yet_ that simple for he had other matters to attend to.

Hiccup slipped out of the giant Hall once his mug was empty, and quickly tiptoed around the pillars and stealthily creeping around an enamored couple enjoying each others' mouths around a corner. He jumped down the stairs by two and jogged to the cliff overlooking the docks. She wasn't hard to spot for her luminous blonde hair was like a sun in the dark, ever-yellow in the moonlight.

Everyone on Berk knew to leave Astrid Hofferson alone when she was by herself at the docks, and Hiccup knew this full-well, but he had to speak with her. He had given her space for most of the day, letting her have plenty of time to cool off, but now he needed to explain himself.

He carefully walked down to the docks, now hardly showing a limp at all. He made sure he was audible when walking up to her so she wouldn't get frightened and round-house kick him in the face or something. But with this tactic, she heard him coming, and watching him walk closer, she adorned the scariest look Hiccup had ever seen on a girl. He twisted his hands together as he approached, and she stood up to greet him, her arms crossed and her boots still discarded, lying on the dock where she had forgotten about them earlier that day.

"Astrid…," Hiccup spoke quietly, stopping a good six feet away from her. He bit his lip and looked at the boards beneath his feet. He was surprised Astrid hadn't at least slapped him yet. "I… I'm not sure where to start,"

"Maybe at the part where you broke your promise to me?" Astrid spat out, her words inflicting needle-like stings in Hiccup's heart, making him feel all the more crummy. Astrid's sharp blue eyes were sending him swords, daggers, spears, all sorts of sharp weaponry at him when Hiccup looked at her.

"Right. Well... I wanted to say I'm so, so sorry. I… I know I broke my promise, and honestly, I feel like the worst human being imaginable—,"

"Good."

"—but I honestly had to clue how long it would take me. There are _so_ many Viking tribes out there, Astrid; I don't even think I reached them all. But before I left to come back, the word was spreading, just like you said, so I can only hope that it gets everywhere," Hiccup looked at her so pleadingly he might as well have been on his knees and kissing her feet.

Astrid's eyes narrowed as she thought of some retort, and replaying his words in her head, she had it. "So you lied to me? About how you'd be 'back so soon'?"

"I had to go, Astrid. I seriously couldn't wait another second so I said anything to get you to let me go," Hiccup sputtered adamantly, his hands flying to his hair and making irrelevant hand motions, taking a step toward her.

Astrid's eyes widened. "So you were just playing a joke? To get me to leave?" She shrieked, making Hiccup step back.

"No! Gods, no!" he jumped to quickly mend the damage, but she tore it open again.

"I kissed you! Was that a joke too? You did _anything_ to get me to go?" her voice was so shrill Hiccup was looking around for any straggling villagers. Every word hit him like a sword to the chest, and he was quickly breaking into pieces.

"_No_! Astrid, no! I kissed you back because I wanted to! Please, Astrid, just listen to me," his eyes were wide with horror, the act Astrid was accusing him of was so unthinkable and terrible he just wanted to forget everything and disappear.

"I did listen to you; I _trusted_ you. And _look _what you did, you lying half-troll! You're so full of shit, Hiccup, every word!" Astrid quickly approached him and she was pounding his chest with her fists angrily. Hiccup tried grasping her wrists to still her but she yanked her arms loose and struck him again.

"Astrid! Please! Stop, will you? Let me explain!" Hiccup took each blow until he had to start stepping back with the ferocity she was hitting him with. She would have loved to sucker-punch him again but after what she did today, her hand really hurt and she had to wrap it up, and so what she was doing now wasn't doing her any good.

"No! I won't—listen—to you!" and with one more blow to his sternum, Astrid huffed and walked back to her spot to pick up her boots, proceeding to walk down the opposite end of the dock. Hiccup had to find his breath for a second for she pretty much knocked it out of him after her last one, and then he quickly ran after her.

"Astrid! I'm really sorry! I'm so, so, SOO sorry! I can't say it enough! Really, Astrid, I feel horrible about it!" Hiccup pulled on her wrist to stop her but she twisted out of his surprisingly tight grip.

"No! Leave me alone, Hiccup!" Astrid said with a cold and hard voice, still loud and ever painful, but Hiccup was relentless on trying to get a hold of her arm. He got a good grip on her upper arm and he wheeled her around, grasping onto her other arm, and he shoved his mouth to hers.

Astrid's eyes were wider than the moon, and through all her rage, she found his mouth amazing and almost relaxing, but before she could give in, she kicked his shin and he pulled back with a wet smack. Yanking her arm out of his hold, she whacked him over the head with her boots.

"Ow! Why would you _do_ that?" Hiccup whined with his hands gripping his head and Astrid spun on her heel and continued stomping down the dock to the ramps leading up the cliff side. He quickly forgot about his pains and the lump forming underneath his messy mop of hair and he chased after her again.

"Astrid! Wait!" Wasn't that kiss supposed to work? _Everything's working against me!_, Hiccup thought when he watched Astrid get farther away as he started to give up. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he shouted after her, slowing.

"Shut up, Haddock! Leave me alone!" Astrid yelled over her shoulder, going higher and higher up the ramps, leaving Hiccup behind.

"I'm sorry…," he sad lamely, then kicked a crate. "Gods! I'm so dumb! Why did I do that? That was so stupid! Ugh!" Hiccup ran his hands through his hair, having enough with yelling, and went to drowning in his own thoughts in helpless self-pity. He mumbled how stupid he was and why he was still horrible at everything and his unmanageable impulses when it came to Astrid and to pretty much complaining about everything under the sun on his way back to his house.

Astrid, on the other hand, was fuming just as much, biting her lip and huffing like a raging bull. Her boots swung at her sides like pendulums as she stomped her way home. _How could I ever have liked him? He's so stupid! Still! Useless! And his freckles? How could I have thought those were cute? He's so ugly! He's such a troll! I don't even want to say his name, much less even think about him!, _Astrid thought as she came upon her house, remembering how she had snuck out her window to have him draw her in the sheep fields. _And he sucks at drawing! I could draw better—and I can't draw!_

She slammed her front door behind her so hard she made a plate jump off the wall and shatter, and even made her father sitting in his chair next to the fire snort and choke briefly before settling back into sleep. Her feet pounded dramatically on the stairs up to her room, and she slammed her door much the same, careless to the late hour. She threw her boots aside and jumped onto the bed, burying her face into her pillow and screamed. She screamed until her throat hurt, until her screams dwindled down into sobs.

Astrid hated crying. She felt dumb and weak and childish and she hated the way she looked afterwards; how her face got all blotchy and her eyes got red, she hated her runny nose. Everything about crying sucked, but she let herself loose for one single moment, letting it all pour out of her in the span of two minutes before she corked herself back up and sniffled her tears away. She rolled over onto her back and rubbed at her wet face until it stung to show no signs of tear marks even though nobody was around to judge her. _I'm here._

She hated herself at how she felt about Hiccup. For two years, she hated every second he was out there, alive, for breaking her promise, and Astrid never forgot broken promises. She was surrounded by the graves of dead and broken promises from her father, the leech of the Hoffersons, broken promises from her sisters, her mother, her friends, and now by the only person she believed could never break a promise. It cut her so deeply Astrid willed the Gods to relieve her of her pain that she hated feeling; hated herself for feeling.

Feelings weren't allowed by Arnheim. Feelings were childish and weak and were to be ignored. Acting upon feelings got her scolded and slapped, and never before had she hated feelings. Feelings were for children. Vikings didn't act on feelings; Vikings acted on solely anger and power and nothing else. Feelings were a foreign concept to Astrid, and she hated Hiccup for making her feel them.

But she did feel for him somewhere. She really didn't want to, but she did. There was something about the fumbling idiot that made her smile, but for now she hated him. He would have to grovel and beg for her to even look at him, and after that he would have to do some more begging to get to speak. That was how Astrid decided it was going to be.

She rolled over onto her side and squeezed her down feather pillow, looking at her set of drawers that were illuminated from the moonlight showing through her open window. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, calming down exceptionally fast. Okay, maybe she didn't hate Hiccup as much as she thought a minute ago. He did have a reason to be gone so long, and he even sent her little things from the places he went and some letters too. The fillet (2) she was wearing had small gold coins sewn into the leather band that she actually really liked and wore all the time, and he even sent her a set of knives from the Mainland that were really good for throwing. In fact, some were still lodged in her wall. _I should take those out before mother notices. _And he also sent a cool blue dragon scale necklace from some foreign dragon she couldn't remember the name of for the life of her. It had small and round silver tablets along with the scales on a leather cord, and even though Astrid wasn't one for jewelry, she really liked it.

Hiccup was just being a dimwit when he got back today. She really liked her punch. She didn't think she could knock one of his teeth out, but she did knock out Snotlout's when they were twelve, so maybe it was bound to happen. And Hiccup's _hair. _He looked horrible with long hair, and even though he managed a bath in today before the party that she escaped from, he still looked like a drowned cat. But, _damn_, he was fuzzy on his jaw. Her knuckles burned after she punched him, beside the fact that she punched him really hard, but Astrid didn't mind the scruff. She liked it, truth be told, and she could stand him having stubble.

And his lips. Ooh. She had to smile at that even though she was physically acting like she didn't like it to show the darkness of her room, but mentally it still sent shivers up her spine. She missed those lips. She didn't really like Snotlout's, but Hiccup's were just perfect for hers. But he was still a jerk for forcing that kiss on her when she was angry, and he deserved her boots over his stupid, thick head.

All good Hiccup-related things aside, a broken promise was a broken promise and she still planned on Hiccup begging and pleading her to forgive him, which she probably will because she liked him. He was a complete dimwitted idiot, but she liked him even though she didn't want to.

But she still wanted to.

00

(2) A fillet is another term for Astrid's headband.


	3. Chapter 2

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Two

00

Astrid was sewing a dress that she had been working on for months. Ingrid taught her daughter how to use more complex patterns and design ideas like flounces and ruffles and bodices, and Astrid was putting it to use in the dress for her sister's wedding present. It was yellow with white trim and had a pretty bodice with pink and green flowers. Astrid liked sewing because it was practical and was actually put to use, much like how she treated training. She felt smart and useful when finishing an article of clothing or mending a hole, and Astrid liked feeling useful. And often times, she was anxious at home so constantly using her hands helped her relax.

The only other person on Berk other than herself who liked to sew was Ruffnut. They often sat down under a shady tree to sew some things and to gossip with some other girls around their age that they weren't really friends with because the two thought they were all pansies. More often than not, Ruff would be sewing dresses for her younger sisters' dolls and Astrid would help draw out designs because they were always demanding more. Ruff was actually quite kind to her younger siblings, but she let them know their place and she never touched a hair on their precious heads. Except when wrestling. The Thorstons wrestled a lot.

But today Astrid was having much difficulty trying to sew the white cuff around the end of one of the sleeves. She groaned and shoved the needle through the buttery yellow fabric and pricked her pinky finger. She stuffed her finger in her mouth and took it out, groaning louder. She shoved the heavy dress into her lap and threw her head back.

"Mother!" she called, her voice echoing in the rafters. Ingrid was busying herself with making butter and huffed when she heard her daughter.

"What is it, Astrid?" Ingrid said calmly at the doorframe leading into the kitchen from the living room, but it was obvious that there was a tinge of annoyance in her voice. She used the back of her hand to wipe the beginning perspiration off her forehead through her pale yellow bangs, showing signs of grey.

"I can't get this! I've tried a million times and it's not working!" She looked over her shoulder at her mother. Ingrid and Astrid didn't look much alike; Astrid's face was more round with bigger eyes like her aunt while Ingrid had a slim face and sleek eyes, Astrid's two older sisters modeled almost exactly the same. However, Astrid took after Ingrid in just about everything else, to mannerisms, to speech, to even writing. But yet they were so different, and most of the time they butted heads like rams, neither relenting to the other. Sometimes their fights could be heard down the street.

"Astrid, dear," Ingrid said breathily as she walked behind and around her daughter in the sitting area, looking awfully tired. _They must have fought last night, _Astrid thought sadly. _Maybe that's why dad was sleeping in the chair. _

Ingrid picked up Astrid's exceptional handiwork and examined her sewing. She squinted her grey eyes, usually so full of energy, but now aging and glazing over. "I can't see it very well, just a sec," Ingrid went over to a side table and picked up a seeing glass and came back over, looking at the sleeve again. Within ten seconds, Ingrid had a diagnosis. "You forgot to tie the knot here. That's all," she turned her head to smile weakly at Astrid then kissed her cheek. "You don't need to be so frustrated, love. There's nothing to it. You just gotta keep practicing and soon you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed."

"I know... but it's just so hard," Astrid admitted shyly. Ingrid put a hand on her daughter's head and smiled before walking back towards the kitchen.

"Think of it as training," Ingrid insisted as she entered the kitchen. Astrid blinked her eyes and looked back down at the notorious sleeve, fingering the hem. She had never thought of it that way. "But, Astrid, could you come and churn this butter so I can make bread? We ran out last night, and...," Ingrid said from the kitchen, moving some things around in the cupboard.

_Of course, _Astrid thought with a scowl. _He got angry at mom last night for not having bread. Childish. _She stood up and laid her dress carefully over the back of the rocking chair she was sitting in, her favorite, and took off the thimbles from her thumb and pointer finger on her opposite hand and set them down on the small table. Astrid adjusted her tunic and then almost had a heart attack when the comfortable quiet of the house was broken by the loud slam of the front door being opened.

"I'm home!"

Astrid wasn't one to scare easily, but she almost died from heart failure, and swinging her head to the front door, she saw her bean stalk of a sister fly into the living room.

"Astrid!" Auda just about shrieked, running over to her sister and squeezing her in a tight embrace. "You've grown so much, Diddy! You're almost as tall as me!" Auda pulled back and kissed her cheeks, blue eyes glimmering with tears.

Astrid hated that pet name the most among the others her family had in store for her, mostly because it sounded absolutely ridiculous and didn't make much sense at all, but now it sounded so familiar and made her heart ache. Through all the sibling rivalry, Astrid really did miss her sister. Four years ago she left for the Viking colony in Dublin and now she was returning home with her Celtic fiancé, Brandan, to be married and to live on Berk for their marriage. Auda had twangs of an accent and she was dressed to the nines in beautiful, flowing Celtic robes, showing off her slim curves and narrow waist reminiscent of the Hofferson women. As Auda had described in her letter to Ingrid and Astrid, Brandan was the son of a wealthy landowner so he had many luxurious things and was well respected among the Vikings and Celts settled in Dublin.

Ingrid rushed out of the kitchen in a cloud of flour, running over to her second daughter to kiss and embrace. Brandan was standing against the wall next to the front door, holding baskets of their belongings and grinning widely through his short-cut dark brown beard. Then, some other people started to walk in unexpectedly, and Ingrid almost jumped through the ceiling.

"Oh, mom, this is Brandan O'Malley and these are his parents, Bretta and Fergus. And, uhm, there are others still outside and at the docks," Auda laughed sheepishly. Ingrid flushed red, redder than either daughter could find on an apple or a beet.

"Others! Auda, why didn't you—oh, I look so messy, I'm covered in flour—!" Ingrid began ranting, looking frazzled and dusting herself off.

Bretta, about the same age as Ingrid, smiled and stepped forward. "No worries, Miss Hofferson, flour geets ev'rywhere," her accent was so strong, Astrid had to wrinkle her nose, understanding hardly a word the lady spoke.

Stoick's head popped through the open window and everyone turned with shrieks to the chief, now only realizing what he did with a flush of his cheeks. "Oh," he laughed and looked around embarrassingly. "Uhm, if you'd come outside, Ingrid…," Stoick gestured behind him with a large fist, then hit his head and almost knocked his helmet off when he pulled his head out.

Ingrid heaved a giant sigh and patted her chest as if to will her heart to slow down. She nodded. "Right," she said her greetings to the O'Malleys, for now ignoring the flour sprinkled on her skirt. Everyone but Astrid left the house, leaving her still standing by the rocking chair with Auda's wedding gift hung over the back. Everything seemed oddly quiet.

As it came to be, Brandan and Auda brought an unexpected amount of family; Brandan's very, very large one. Ingrid and Arnheim had collaborated with Stoick about the whole wedding, and before they were expecting only immediate family of Brandan's to stay at the Hofferson lodge. Now with half of the O'Malley family, Stoick decided that the mats and beds stored in the Mead Hall basement would need to be brought out, used for situations just like these.

Some Viking friends of Brandan's came along, some who happened to be from Berk. In the town square, in front of the Hofferson house, and in the Mead Hall, the villagers of Berk and the Celts from Ireland were inter-meshing unexpectedly fast and well. Men were sharing jokes and stories and the women were laughing with old acquaintances and recent gossip. And if there was anything to be expected, it was the wedding after-party. The Celts were known for their parties, most of the stories reaching to the far north island of Berk and beyond, and this one shall top them all, and everyone knew it.

Nearing dinner time, Auda, Brandan, and Ingrid returned home, surprising Astrid, who was still intently working on sewing Auda's dress. She jumped up and ran up to her room, spools and string trailing behind her like a train, before Auda would notice, yelling some things about warnings. Astrid safely stashed the dress in her wooden chest at the foot of her bed, an impromptu spot because she never had to hide it before. Running back downstairs, Astrid found everyone in the kitchen. Ingrid was talking about how the butter inside the churner had cooled and was now hard. With wide eyes, Astrid did her best to slink out of the room, but to this day, Astrid seriously believed Ingrid had eyes on the back of her head.

"Astrid Finna Hofferson, get your butt back in here!" Ingrid demanded, stomping her tiny foot. Auda and Brandan were sitting at the table, and Auda was almost squirming in her seat with the upcoming lecture session. Astrid slid back inside, face hot because she knew she was supposed to finish churning the butter but she had forgotten about it. Or at least that was how she was going to play it off as.

"The butter is hard, Astrid," Ingrid began her tirade with a disappointed gesture to the churner. "You know I told you to finish it for me."

"Yeah, but then you had to make bread, and Auda came home and everything," Astrid replied lamely, knowing it was a dumb excuse. Auda snorted from her spot at the table and Astrid threw her a dangerous look. Auda only raised a challenging brow, unfazed.

"Astrid—," Ingrid groaned and rubbed her brow. "I told you to do something and you deliberately didn't do it."

"I forgot!"

"No, you didn't! Now because you 'forgot', I have to reheat it, re-churn it, and make bread, all at once now. If we're lucky, we'll have butter tonight," Ingrid snapped, glaring hard at Astrid who didn't shrink away like she had intended.

Auda sniggered again and that set the match to light the cold flame within Astrid, renewing her dislike of her older sister. "Because it's always about Auda," Astrid retorted sharply but under her breath, still loud enough to hear, however. She balled up her fists and stared at her sister. She didn't care if Brandan was here or not, she was going to prove how snotty and what a spoiled princess she really was.

"It's her wedding tomorrow!" Ingrid scolded her daughter, now actually starting to become angry.

"Yeah, it's my wedding tomorrow," Auda almost outright laughed, but tried sounding hurt. Astrid didn't take the bait at all; she had used it for years.

"And when it's my wedding, you'll still be making me churn butter," Astrid mumbled on her way out but Ingrid still picked up on it.

"Astrid! What did you say?" she shouted after her, but Astrid was already halfway up the stairs, and she effectively ended the small and heated argument by slamming her door.

00

Gobber didn't lie one bit when he said he left a pile of dull weapons and mangled leather saddles for Hiccup. Walking into the forge early the next morning with hardly a wink of sleep—after the failed attempt of his to apologize—he groaned upon seeing the pile messily stacked in the corner. Hiccup heavily sighed, shrugging off his vest, and upon tying the apron around his waist, he discovered he hardly had any string to tie around himself. Bewildered and surprised, he had to smirk at himself, genuinely shocked at how much he changed in such a short span of two years, or at least it seemed short. While the fire was heating up, Hiccup rifled around for a bigger apron, deciding Gobber's was far too big for him after trying it on; it hung almost like a dress, right down to his knees. Okay, he was still kind of tiny, but at least it didn't reach down to his ankles like it had two years prior.

Hiccup found an apron up in a hidden chest in the attic, and when he came trotting down the stairs, he was hit with a wave of heat. It was so _hot._ Tying the strings around his waist, his apron now dark brown leather, he walked over to all the windows and pushed them open. Looking outside, the sun was going to be high in the sky, he predicted, with not a cloud in sight, and it was going to be scorching. The day previously had been warm, and unknown to him, so had the days before, and today was the marking of summer.

Hiccup had exaggerated a big on the three months of hail and forever-chilly weather. Sure, winters on Berk could be deadly and were absolutely bone chilling, but summers could be just the opposite with days on end being sweltering hot and humid, but it did rain more often than most places. The rain was usually cold and swept through in sheets, but afterwards it went right back to being hot hot hot. The small watering holes around Berk would unthaw and warm up a lot in the afternoon, drawing children and adults alike to the cool spring-fed water. Rivers would defreeze and the water would run clear and cold from glacier melt water, and on Laugardagr, women would be seen all day with laundry baskets piled full at the banks.

Summer was Hiccup's favorite season because he liked the warm, but now he knew he was going to be too warm because he had to work in the forge until the pile was depleted. Hiccup jumped head first into the stack and he pounded away and worked the billow and heated up weapons all day, working at a fast, deft pace despite being gone for so long. In some places where Hiccup stayed the longest, he worked at a smith, earning a little bit of money on his travels. Now, being back at the forge, one of the places he felt most comfortable, it relaxed some of the nerves still wiry from the night before.

Hiccup stood straight after one last wham of his hammer, using the back of his gloved hand to wipe his sweaty forehead. He took the red hot sword he was re-shaping, held with thick pliers, to the bucket of water and dipped it in. There was one loud hiss when the water bubbled and the sword cooled down quickly. Hiccup pulled it out and shook it gently to get some of the water off, bringing the faintly red sword to eye level.

"That should do it," he spoke to himself, sighing heavy in the burning heat. Hiccup decided it was a good time for break since he had been working from the crack of dawn until now, about noonish, and he was just about ready to take a nap.

He took off his leather gloves and threw them onto a work table absentmindedly, reaching for a towel that hung off a hook on the wall. He ran his face through the thin cloth, surely making his sheet of bangs messy. He wiped the layer of sweat off his neck and briefly over his shoulders before stepping outside into the bright sun. There wasn't really much difference between the forge and standing outside, he realized with a furrowed brow. Hiccup scowled and squinted his eyes while he tightened his little ponytail at the nape of his neck. He held his hand over his eyes to shield them and, with a little bit of slow examination, noticed that there were a _lot_ of people walking around.

During summers in Berk, it wasn't uncommon for the whole village to be outside with every home vacant, but there were a lot of people compared to normal, and a lot of them he didn't recognize.

"Hiccup!"

He narrowed his eyes to look around for the source of the voice calling to him, and he found Astrid's sister, Auda, waving at him with her free hand, her other occupied by Brandan. Auda was waving at him—and Brandan did too. Hiccup sheepishly waved back, grinning like a fool, and shyly, nonchalantly, held the towel in front of him because he was quite bare-chested. He didn't wear his apron much when he was only reshaping and working the billows; the few sparks flying off didn't bother him anymore, but he reasoned anyway that wearing an apron would only be stifling in this heat. Yet now he wished he had put it on because Auda was waving at him.

He wasn't nervous or flustered because he had a silly crush on Auda or anything, but because he had met her in Dublin however many months ago and she healed a wound on his chest for him, one that he still had the scar to prove. She was also very pretty, but in his eyes not as pretty as her younger sister, but pretty girls for Hiccup were intimidating any way, and no matter what he did, he acted like a complete dork around each and every one of them. But in any case, it was just awkward, especially with Brandan right next to her holding her hand. He met Brandan too, but, still. It was just weird—and also because Hiccup always found something awkward to say or found the littlest things embarrassing because he was Hiccup.

He quickly turned and dipped inside, throwing the towel somewhere and picked up a red hot and deformed spike from the bed of coils and began is hammer-wailing chorus.

Hiccup worked all day until dusk, and when he got home, he ate almost half of the Haddock house reserves of salted meat; mutton, pork, cod… he ate enough for a king twice his size—then fell on his bed and was knocked out two seconds flat. He hadn't worked that hard all throughout the day like that since flying to an island a few days south from Berk. It had a population of women so muscular and big they might as well have been men, working him all day long to build up strength. They had him chopping wood, plowing fields, heaving rocks, building houses, and everything in between. It was on that island he probably spent the longest after Dublin, and where he finally filled out most of his potential, and also where he sent Astrid his first letter that he conveniently never got a reply to, along with the ten others he sent.

In this letter, he apologized profusely without much else, except for a bit of a description of what he was being forced to do to look like a 'true Viking man'. He sent a few more during his stay on the island, and traveling to the Shetlands he bought her fillet, to Scotland where he and Toothless almost got killed by kilt-clad warriors raging on their bagpipes, to Dublin where he told Astrid he met Auda and Brandan. He told her, in reassurance, that Brandan was a good guy and that Auda missed her sister dearly. He stayed in Ireland the longest, working in a smithy in Dublin while simultaneously preaching his teachings nightly in a small square. He flew to Limerick and taught there briefly, but didn't stay long because the dragons were getting more welcomes and appreciated the farther he traveled south.

In Normandy, he discovered dragons were only bred in the size of Terrible Terrors, and seeing a dragon as big as Toothless frightened many of the people. He taught there for a short time because the Terrors were working happily alongside farmers and townspeople alike. He even saw a few Terrors herding sheep like sheepdogs, nipping ankles and growling, flying place to place to corral them in.

On his round trip back home, a year already had past and then some, and he still had no reply from any letters, but he kept sending them anyway. Hiccup stopped by some Viking settlements he had missed. His teachings had gotten around and they greeted him gladly with slaps to the back and a pint of ale. Hiccup had sent Stoick many alliances with the kinder tribes, but on some islands he was lucky he wasn't killed, or, at the very least, one more limb missing.

He stopped by the Meatheads one last time before flying back to Berk, building up courage to return while Thuggory still asked him questions he had forgotten to ask two years prior. He was nervous to go home to see all the people he missed—even Snotlout—but he was frightened as well. He was afraid he would be shunned, irrationally of course, and afraid what his father might think of him despite what he had said in this letters to Hiccup, but he was most afraid of Astrid.

He knew full-well she wouldn't be pleased to see him because he knew he broke his promise to her that he couldn't forgive himself for, but he _had_ thought she would lighten up after a bit. "What the _Hel_ was I thinking?" he muttered to himself earlier that day at the forge. Why had he thought Astrid would be the last person to punch him in the face? He had expected Ruffnut to first before her, but evidently he was sorely mistaken. He felt even worse for forgetting what Astrid was really like; he felt incredibly stupid and he just wanted to sit in a hole forever.

Hiccup thought all day about Astrid and went through hundreds of scenarios where he apologized profusely and he got kicked around a bit before she forgave him. But it was going to be harder than that. Everything was always harder for Hiccup.

He woke up the next morning with one side of his hair flat from laying stomach down all night on his bed, and the other side flat and slobbery where Toothless licked up until he woke. Groaning and rolling over to sit up, he realized he was still wearing his prosthetic and even his boot from the day before. "What?" he muttered lazily, looking down the length of himself. "I can't believe…," Hiccup reached a hand to scratch his head, oblivious to Toothless' guttural laughing, and felt that both his ears were free of any scraggly hair.

Furrowing his brows, he felt both sides of his head that had hair sticking up like some sort of bat, the hair in between completely flat. He snorted and pushed Toothless' head. "Toothless! Why would you—," his friend replied with head butting him off the bed on the other side, still laughing in his strange dragon way. Hiccup fell to the floor with a few yelps and a mighty crash, ending in a lump of limbs, a metal prosthesis, and half his bed sheets.

"Ohoho, no you didn't!" Hiccup said with a dangerous, playful undertone to his voice and managed to untangle himself. He jumped up and held his hands out like claws, crouching and growling at Toothless like a human figure with bat hears and wolf instincts. Toothless crouched low too, wiggling his rear end in the air like he was about ready to pounce, but when Hiccup bounded over his bed, Toothless jumped away to induce a chase around the house, his giant serpentine eyes wide with excitement.

Hiccup made odd, un-Hiccup-like noises that went from a range resembling bears to dragon roars to eagle calls, leaping over chairs and tables as Toothless bounded around the house, leaving a mess in his wake, swinging from the rafters. When Toothless jumped off the heavy wooden table, Hiccup took the chance to dive at him, wrapping his arms around his head and hooking his knee around one of Toothless' arms, successfully knocking him onto a shaggy and torn rug.

"I got you!" Hiccup cheered, Toothless trying to slap him with one of his earflaps. Eighteen-years-old, Hiccup still wrestled Toothless with as much vigor as when he was sixteen, and it was also beneficial to him when building up his strength. But, still. What eighteen-year-old ran around his house acting like a mix of creatures with messed up hair? Hiccup could possibly never grow up.

And Stoick realized this with a sigh when he pushed open the front door to come and wake his son, only to find him wrestling his Night Fury with the house a total mess. It reminded him a lot of the times he would leave Hiccup alone for two hours when he was little and he'd come home with drawings on every available surface and food stacked in piles meant to resemble castles. Stoick blinked down at his son, who was now frozen with wide eyes, his dragon still in a somewhat head-lock.

Stoick slapped a hand to his face and rubbed his mustache before talking. "Son, yeh need ta help Gobber daown at the forge teh finish the ceremonial swords."

Hiccup stared up at his father in stone-y silence, mouth in the tight line he adopted when he was getting scolded at or looked at in a funny way, such as this instance. "Uh… right," his grip of Toothless slackened, the stare-off between son and father never breaking.

Stoick closed his eyes and shook his head as if to shake the awkwardness from memory. "Well, be ready by sundaown, the wedding will start then. And clean this up, will yeh?" Stoick tossed a beefy hand toward the kitchen and the fallen pots and pans.

"Sure, of course," Hiccup unwound himself from Toothless and stood, straight as board, watching his father who didn't seem so towering anymore.

"Righ'. See you… then," Stoick gave a quick nod before grabbing the door handle and pulling it closed as he walked out over the threshold.

Hiccup looked at the door where his father was just previously, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He let his shoulders loosen, looking down at Toothless who was in much the same position as before, his huge green eyes sparkling as if he was pleading for something or laughing.

Hiccup didn't quite understand how awkward things could get with Stoick. Just two days ago, they were talking the whole night about the other tribes and the people he met, Stoick exchanging stories with some of the people Hiccup mentioned. Hiccup actually enjoyed talking with his father well into the night without feeling completely inferior. He had a nice night. And then it went right back to being awkward just now—back to step one. He supposed it was mostly because he was caught red handed wrestling Toothless and the situation was similarly handled like he was caught whacking off.

Hiccup sighed and laughed at that thought, blushing and slapping his hands to his face. "Ohh, Gods," he turned and went to throw on a tunic to leave for the forge.

Sniping an apple from the kitchen counter, Hiccup left Toothless cozying up on the rug, hoping that awkwardness wouldn't always define the Haddock men.

00

Astrid worked on Auda's wedding present most of the morning, adding finishing touches and fixing any minute mistakes. Once she finished, she wrapped it carefully in parchment and tied it with twine, letting it sit on her nightstand for tomorrow and left to go get breakfast.

Ingrid had begun breakfast early in the morning, so when Astrid descended the stairs, bacon, bread, sausage and eggs wafted her way, and she hardly remembered a time when Ingrid made a big breakfast. The last time, she thought, was about five years ago when all three girls were still living at home. Walking into the kitchen, Astrid noticed everyone was present at the table, including her father Arnheim, seeming to pop out of nowhere. She didn't hear him come home last night, most likely late, busy with compromising with the O'Malleys and with work, most likely. He was a popular and extremely worked shipbuilder—not that Astrid really cared.

Brandan and Arnheim were having a jovial and laughter-filled conversation about something, Brandan sitting at his left around the corner of the table while Arnheim sat at the head. Auda was leaning on the thick wooden table on her elbow, chin in palm, looking at Brandan with 'goo-goo eyes' (as Astrid saw them as), looking as if he painted the sun and sky. Rolling her eyes, and with a bit of scorn for Auda was taking her spot at the table, Astrid sat where Aislin usually would. Nobody really seemed to notice she had just walked in, except she may have caught a glance from Arnheim, but nothing else.

Astrid sat, letting her anger boil. Ingrid set the table with all the breakfast food and they dug in, but Astrid seemed to add some extra fervor unintentionally; slamming eggs onto her plate, ripping off hunks of bread and mauling it, shoving dishes Ingrid's way in her definition of passing. Ingrid furrowed her brows at her daughter's behavior, sitting right next to her, but she didn't rise up to her attitude. Instead, she listened and joined in on the conversation that-didn't-include-Astrid.

Once breakfast was done, Auda, being her usual chirpy self, piped up and offered to help Ingrid clean up, but this was pointless because she would have to anyway. Astrid tossed her sister a sinister look, going unnoticed by Auda, and stood so quickly from her chair the wooden legs made loud screeches on the wooden floor. She took her plate over to the washing bin with a few stares on her back.

"What's your problem?" Auda asked snidely, taking the half-empty bread basket and both hers and Brandan's plates to the counter to set them down.

"I don't have a problem," Astrid mumbled into the sink, scrubbing plates hard with a rag.

Auda scoffed, taking a plate from Ingrid and bringing it over to set next to Astrid for her to wash. "Right. Like I didn't see you eating like an immature bear cub at the table like you do when you're pissed off," Auda waved her off and continued clearing the table with her mother. There was a tense silence in the room. Even Arnheim was shut up, and he's usually got something snarky to say about his daughter and step-daughter's petty arguments.

"Oh, bear cub? Really? Wow," Astrid let out a huff of laughter. "You still haven't changed," she said awful coldly.

Auda rolled her eyes. "Oh, yep, and I see you haven't either, _little_ sister," she always has to go and point out the age difference. "Because I see you're still trying to get the attention, _baby_ sister."

Astrid clenched her teeth, squeezing the rag tight; she almost wanted to throw it at her. Anger unfurled within Astrid, spreading like wildfire through her veins, and then she let out an empty laugh. "You _honestly_ think I want the attention? Look at you, jumping at every chance to help mom, dawdling all over Brandan, all bright and smiley like Auda _always_ is. You always seek attention, and you _thrive _off it," Astrid had turned to stare at her sister vehemently, eyes narrowed, finger pointed accusingly. She was animated, and she found herself rambling which was something rare of Astrid.

"Precious, perfect Auda, defying tradition and sailing off to Dublin! Defying tradition again by marrying a Celt, a rich landowner's son, after Aislin gets shipped off to the Meatheads," Brandan flushed, looking entirely uncomfortable. "Surely, Auda's gotta be the center of attention otherwise she'll whine and moan about her _baby_ sister taking it. Typical Auda, blaming everything on others."

"Enough!" Arnheim bellowed, standing up from his seat. "Astrid, you shut your mouth."

"Oh—and Auda's _always _got to be right, too," Astrid threw an arm in the air, going back to scrubbing dishes.

"Astrid!" Ingrid almost shrieked. "Arnheim—!"

"Go. Get out," Arnheim said in an angry, red-faced voice, thick brown brows set close together. "You've ran your mouth too far."

Gladly, Astrid threw down the rag and stormed out of the kitchen, relieved to be free of her forever-hypocritical family. She pounded up the stairs and slammed her door for the umpteenth time in the last three days, more than she had in a week. Without hesitating or missing a beat, she picked up her axe leaning against the wall and climbed out of the window. Astrid leapt down and tore her way through the streets, the hand not holding the axe that was resting on her shoulder clenched tight with white knuckles.

Everyone noticed Astrid Hofferson when she was beating up boys, but especially when she was tearing through the village. She had a reputation very much unlike her sisters; they were adored and favorite without even seeming to try, the islands best two young female warriors, the dynamic duo of Berk, and Astrid held almost the complete opposite. She was known for her fierce axe skills, yes, but better known for her tempter that flared up every now and then, only to release it on a poor tree somewhere.

Ruffnut was no stranger to Astrid's temper and she often avoided her whenever possible to keep herself from bearing the blunt of her attacks, but Hilda obviously didn't see the imminent danger in Astrid's stride. She pushed her lanky, protesting daughter toward her friend to figure out plans for the night.

"Agh! But, _mooom_!" Ruffnut complained, adjusting her helmet. Hilda grew up with all boys, and often times Ruffnut believed she got her beat-up-Tuff-constantly mindset from her, her only closest brother, and just all-around beating up the opposite sex.

"Go! Hurry, she's walking away," Hilda turned and started talking to the vendor about bargaining prices, signaling the end of the conversation. With a heavy groan that morphed into a sigh, Ruffnut went to catching up with Astrid.

"Hey, Astrid! I need to talk to you," Ruffnut called before reaching her, running behind the blonde covered with a dark and smoky rain cloud. She caught up and started walking next to Astrid, but it was more like a power-walk rather than a leisurely stroll. Astrid Hofferson did not take 'strolls'.

"So, uhm, don't you have to go to your sister's bath thing? For the wedding?" Ruff asked, and she thought she did a pretty good job for the bit of fear welling up to rattle her voice.

"I uninvited myself," Astrid snapped coldly, her eyes pinpointed forward. Her strides got heavier and Ruffnut had to almost jog to keep up.

"Oh—okay. Well, you're still spending the night at my place, right?"

"Yeah," Astrid hated how Auda had to complain about her and Brandan not having enough privacy for the consummation and asked their family to leave the house after the required witnessing. Ingrid had to melt to her and agree, but was only able to find Astrid a place for the night. She hated how it was always about Auda. Auda, Auda, Auda.

"Okay! Cool! I'll see you… tonight, I guess," Ruff stopped running after Astrid just as she disappeared around a giant boulder leading into the forest. She groaned. Hofferson moodiness.

00

The rest of the morning, Astrid threw her axe mercilessly into her favorite tree, always having to find a flaw somewhere. Either the crisp thud didn't sound right or she found an imperfection in her stance or throwing; it wasn't ever good enough. Everything could always be better, be improved, be the _best_. She had to be the best; the best warrior, the best daughter, the best cook, the best sewing machine. Of course being 'best daughter' wasn't exactly her first choice—actually, the last—considering how her sister was now living with her family, and it was clear that she was better favored. Astrid didn't mind this much at all, though, because she could be the best seamstress Ingrid has ever seen because both Aislin and Auda were horrible. _Ah_. The motivation.

_To be the best seamstress. Yes! _Astrid grinned as she threw her axe one last time before taking a short cut to her backyard.

Astrid hopped over the short chicken wire fence, startling all the chickens and hens and making them squawk, squabble, and flap their wings. They parted as she jogged past them in a slow pace, the dry dirt kicking up loose feathers and dust behind her. Slamming open the back door leading into the kitchen, she almost made Arnheim choke on his bread.

"Astrid!" Arnheim gasped, pounding a fist into his broad chest a few times as she hacked. Astrid laughed once and watched her father blink his dark eyes rimmed with watery tears and throw back a bit of flat wine to wash it down. "Astrid, your mother's bin a-lookin' ev'rywhere for you," he spoke at last, still blinking a bit fast, breath a little shallow behind his fuzzy brown beard.

"I've been throwing my axe," she lifted it a bit for him to see it above the table. Panting, she realized how disgusting she must have looked. Her bright blue shirt was soaked with sweat and being blue, it was probably noticeable, and her hair was mangled and displaced from her fillet and pieces were coming out of her braid, and she was also rolling around in dirt that hadn't been wet for a week. She crinkled her nose as she looked down herself but there was time to clean up.

"I see tha' naow, but the way you talked today was unacceptable, with Brandan here—," Oh, so he was trying to be a cool, calm father now, huh?

No, he better not be. "Auda's always got to be the best, obedient daughter and she rubs it all over my face that I'm not getting _married_—,"

"She's your older sister, Astrid. Show some respect," Arnheim replied in a level voice.

Astrid scoffed and tossed her head to the side. "Respect. She had no respect for me!" She started stomping to the door.

Arnheim began reaching and grabbing any words that came to him to say, never understanding how women worked. "She's older than you!"

"So!" Up the stairs. Slam the door.

Living in a house full of women now was a big change from a house full of boys from his previous marriage, and though he had been married to Ingrid for seventeen years now, he would never be able to fully comprehend the complexities of women, and what to say and what not to say.

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On her way to the hot springs to take a bath, Astrid was caught by her mother and her aunts and her friends and carted off to the bath house for Auda's ritual bath despite her adamant protests.

"You have to go to your sister's bath, Diddy. It's tradition!" One of her aunts exclaimed, smiling brightly while carrying a basket of herbs for the bath.

"I didn't go to Aislin's," Astrid muttered defiantly, keeping her gaze down at her feet to avoid the glances they were receiving form the village, watching the gaggle of mostly blonde-haired women strut through.

"Because she got married to Kollr on Meathead Island. We just did everything there. But you were much too young to attend," Ingrid replied with a gentle smile, carrying a few sheets for Auda.

Oh, she was _loving_ this. Ingrid loved having daughters; she was almost dancing in her step, basking in the pure excitement and happiness that her second daughter was finally getting married. Before she was married to Arnheim and before Astrid was born, she was told far and wide Auda would be a difficult girl to marry off. She was so tough and strong as a five-year-old, and she was certainly showing signs of being a heartbreaker. Then Astrid was born and the only time Ingrid had seen Auda being overly-affectionate with her younger sister was when she kissed Astrid's cheek as a newborn. And from then on the house was never quiet.

There was always something for the two youngest Hofferson girls to bicker and fight about, more often than not leading to hair pulling and biting. They were both very much alike, very much like Ingrid was, and they butted heads constantly. Aislin was usually the mediator between the two, but she had a rough-and-tumble side behind her calm face and then everything got into a big mess.

But Ingrid did love her girls. She started bawling the day Aislin got married and both Auda and Astrid teamed up for once to comfort their mother. They were all tough and brash girls, but each one of them had a deep affectionate side that they all liked to hide from view, and Ingrid did once too, but now as a mother she let it pull through most of the time. They were all so lovely in Ingrid's eyes and even though sometimes she wanted to slap them across the face, she still loved them to death.

She sighed and smiled, wrapping a free arm around Astrid's shoulders, now only a few inches shorter than her now. She remembered when Astrid was short and tiny, more resembling a pole rather than a real girl, with two thick braids sticking out of her head on either side. She was so _precious._ She still is, of course, but she kissed her daughter's temple and continued walking, slowly fading into real life again.

"…and one day, Astrid, you're going to have to do the same thing," Ingrid's friend Snotra said, making Astrid groan and roll her eyes. She had known Snotra since the day she was born, and she always had to point out the annoyingly obvious.

"Aren't we supposed to be meeting Auda at the bath house? And _not_ giving _me_ advice?" Astrid didn't mind her mother's arm around her shoulders, but just not in _public_… It was so uncomfortable. Ingrid could be too affectionate sometimes.

"We're meeting her there. She was with some of her friends catching up, dear," Ingrid replied, rubbing Astrid's arm and then letting her go to pull open the thick doors to the bath house.

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"No! I swear to the _Gods_, mother, if you make me wear pink, I will… I will explode! No! I'm not wearing pink," Astrid vehemently protested, adamant and determined not to wear the girliest color of all girly colors. Ingrid slouched a bit, already looking frazzled an hour into the wedding preparations. She insisted Astrid dress up as well because she was representing the Hofferson family, and also displayed she was still a maiden. Ingrid sighed and tossed the dress on the bed, hurriedly swiping through Astrid's closet full of hand-me-downs.

"Okay, if you won't wear pink, Astrid Finna," Ingrid said through bitten teeth, ready to give her daughter an earful because she had so many other things to do. "You will wear this," she pulled out an equally girly-colored dress: lavender.

Astrid's mouth dropped. "Ohh, no, mother—,"

"Yes! You will wear this dress, and I won't hear you whining about it. Put it on right now," Ingrid's fuse was becoming short and Astrid knew it, but _lavender_?

"Some privacy?" Astrid barked in a snarky tone, becoming increasingly annoyed with her busy-body mother.

"I want to see you put it on. You're going to wear this dress and I won't let you soil the family name by looking like a wretch," Ingrid crossed her arms, her words sharp as knives. In this mood, her words morphed from kindness to that of harshness, very much resembling a double sided coin. Ingrid was certainly no woman to mess with, so Astrid just rolled her eyes and pulled her tunic over her head.

She has been in her undergarments many times in front of her mother so she wasn't at all embarrassed, but with the door wide open and women darting past wasn't helping. Astrid pulled the dress over her head and adjusted it around her chest. Once she got it fitted, the hem reached to the floor to cover her feet, and the fabric was so incredibly flowy and soft it felt like she wasn't wearing anything at all. It was tight around her upper half, surprisingly, because Astrid didn't have much to brag about, but the scooping neckline really did look nice for her build.

"Okay. Better?" Astrid held out her arms, feeling the fabric of the short sleeves with a white decorated trim pull at her and resist a bit. This dress used to be Aislin's and now it was hers, another hand-me-down like much of her wardrobe.

"Yes. Now go downstairs and Nailbite will do your hair," Ingrid said as she strutted to the door with heavy steps.

"I can do my _own _hair!"

"Fine! Fine, Astrid, do your own hair for Odin's sake. Be that way," Ingrid sneered before leaving Astrid in her room. She rolled her eyes, again, and picked up her horsehair brush and started to pull it through her damp hair, smelling like rosemary and sage with hints of strawberry, in front of her looking-glass atop her dresser.

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	4. Chapter 3

"Irish Party in Third Class" from Titanic is what I listened to for this whole chapter, and I used the dance scene from Tangled to get an idea for this one.

I'm updating a little early because I won't be able to update until late tomorrow, so I'm treating you guys :D Enjoy!

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Three

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The ceremony couldn't have lasted any longer than it did; it felt like an eternity had passed before it ended. Elder Gothi was speaking in an ancient tongue, calling to the Gods to bless the union and the goat Brandan and Auda would keep as a living testament to their marriage. Auda and Brandan dutifully repeated the vows she spoke for them, and lucky for Brandan that he practiced because his thick Celtic accent would have made the vows go horribly wrong. They traded swords and rings were past between them, and Elder Gothi said some finishing words then Brandan lifted the thin veil covering Auda's face and kissed her cheek. Auda could have resembled a tomato she was so red.

After that, every villager cheered and began the race to Mead Hall. Astrid lagged behind with her weeping mother to walk slowly with her to the hall and to console the delightfully sad woman. She said things like 'this was always going to happen', and 'Brandan's a great guy, don't worry' and Ingrid, almost comically, would honk into her handkerchief and thickly reply to her daughter in unintelligible words.

"Oh, my—mom, come on. We have to get there in time to see the chief make the toast," Astrid said in exasperation, rubbing her mother's shoulder. She prayed that she wouldn't fall into such a state of mess at her children's weddings, may the Gods forbid.

"I—I—I… Sto—Stoi—Stoi-ick will w-wait," Ingrid fervently nodded and dabbed at her red nose. "Okay," She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm o-okay."

"Good. Let's go," Astrid took her mother's hand and led her along, their roles as mother and child very much reversed.

Astrid wasn't very excited to be at the wedding after-party because that meant hanging around her mother and all her catty friends and putting on fake smiles like she was totally happy for Auda, which she was, but she wasn't at the same time. Being married didn't sound as great as it seemed to Astrid; being tied down to one person seemed like such a pain in the ass, and not to mention pregnancy and the housework and the kids and the lovey-dovey sickness, and the _pregnancy. _But Astrid just really wanted to get this whole thing over with and avoid Hiccup as much as possible.

Hiccup, however, was looking high and low for the blonde-headed Viking who occupied his thoughts much too often to be normal. He needed to find her and apologize profusely and do anything to gain her acceptance back. And he also really wanted to show her the white stone tooth he carved himself-but he wanted to apologize more than show her a stupid tooth.

Hiccup was raising himself to his full height and then some to scan the heads of the crowd pooling into the hall for dinner. "Astrid, where are you…," he whispered lightly, stepping around a giant and giantess Viking couple. "Astrid!" He found her, walking in very last with Ingrid. Hiccup immediately weaved through people to get to her, but just has soon as he started he was pulled by the elbow out of the stream of Vikings by none other that his hulky cousin.

"'Lout! Wait, I need to—,"

"Nope, we gotta sit at the table, now. Important toast is important," Snotlout didn't even look over his shoulder when he spoke, making Hiccup even more ticked off than he already was.

"The toast isn't at least for ten minutes! Let me—go!" Hiccup exaggerated and yanked his elbow free from Snotlout's meaty hand but continued walking with him. It was important for the ring surrounding the chief be first to be seated, so he understood why Snotlout, of all people, would pull him back, but he supposed he would have plenty of time to talk to Astrid.

"Feast, whatever, don't care," Snotlout weaved around a few people and sat down at a bench and Hiccup followed suit, sitting next to Stoick's left and Spitelout at his right.

Tables were already piled with food of all kinds and everyone dug in, but Hiccup was moving his body left and right and trying to extend his neck to see where he saw the familiar head of blonde. He couldn't see her face because of a Viking's helmet horn. He ate quietly and lightly, his stomach too uneasy to eat much.

Stoick gave his toast about how Auda was such a remarkable girl and how everybody loved her and how great she was with her hammers and a bunch of other lame stuff that made Astrid snort in contempt. He spoke about Brandan and his Celtic family, stirring up laughs like he always seemed to be best at, and ended his speech with a mighty 'hurrah!' and the party picked up.

There was continuous music subtly playing in the background, but when the eating was near over and the drinking games began and more and more girls brought their men or chosen boyfriends for the night to the dance floor, the renowned Irish music grew louder. Flutes, pipes, fiddles, drums, lutes—a small ragtag band of mixed Celts and Vikings playing fast-pace music, and they made sure the dance floor was in constant motion without fail.

At the beginning, Astrid hung out at her family table with her parents to talk to villagers and to receive any congratulatory gifts. Auda and Brandan had gone off dancing after a while, but not until Auda dragged Brandan away while Ingrid wasn't looking to take a few shots of hard liquor behind a wood statue. Astrid laid her head on the table and almost fell asleep, tired of being ignored by villagers and her parents, but she was shaken awake by a tipsy Ruffnut.

"Hey, Ast, you wanna join a drinking game?" Ruffnut asked, her words perfectly normal, but the way she was swaying and how her eyes were slightly glazed totally gave her away.

"Yeah, what the Hel," Astrid shook her head to will herself to wake up, and slipped under the table while her mother's back was turned.

"Okay, so, dude. Tuffnut is totally kicking ass and we need to beat him. 'Lout was originally my partner until some chick walked by and he pretty much went drooling after her. So, it's me and you, Tuffnut and Fishlegs—who is surprisingly good, by the way—Hoark and Stinger, Nosebleed and Buttscratch, aaand… yeah," Ruffnut explained while leading Astrid to the table where the game was being held, stopping for wildly dancing people that looked more or less like they were drunk, walking around the dance floor, being run into by some hulking Vikings, and laughing at two ladies fighting over a knocked out man. Approaching the table, there was a ring around the players and currently there were raised fists as Tuffnut won another round.

"Goddamnit!" Ruffnut barked and pushed her way through the ring, leading Astrid behind her.

"Ooh, Ruffnut, I got another point!" Tuffnut teased, jumping up and down with excitement as his sister rounded the head of the table with Astrid in tow.

"Whose turn is it?" Ruffnut asked, stopping next to her brother.

"Yours, I think," Fishlegs replied, his eyes going a bit lazy. He was sitting at a table within the ring, looking ready to topple over his mug and sleep in the puddle. He was incredibly wasted for being such a big and muscular guy.

"Oh, well, Astrid'll go. It's her turn anyway," Ruffnut pushed Astrid forward and she almost fell into the table from tripping on her dress. She was about to yell at her but Ruffnut started first. "It's beer ball, you just—,"

"I know how to play," Astrid snapped, standing at the head of the table. There was a set up of beer glasses at the other end of the table set in a triangular shape, another one at her end, the tip of the opposite triangle in her direction. She was meant to get a small cloth ball into each one of the glasses filled three-fourths of the way, and each one she got the opposing person had to chug one of their glasses. If she missed, her turn was given to the next player in the cycle. The whole point of the game was to get the other person as drunk as possible, and so far, Tuffnut was in the lead, even before the older players.

Astrid didn't really like beer ball because she didn't like beer. If there was any alcoholic beverage she would drink freely it would either be mead because it was sweet and had a pleasing tang, or vodka, when it was around on rare occasions. She also didn't like beer ball because beer hardly had an effect on her, even after drinking ten glasses. At seventeen-years-old, Astrid had plenty exposure to alcohol and she'd been drinking it, technically, since she was a child, but in actuality she had been drinking since she could reach the bar counter at fourteen. But, before that, she and her friends stole a barrel when they were eleven and that was the time Astrid first broke her nose. Now, being allowed to drink publicly, Astrid had a higher tolerance to alcohol than most of her friends. Fishlegs had the lowest tolerance, then Tuffnut, then Snotlout, Ruffnut, and then her. Hiccup was probably before Fishlegs because she had never seen him drunk, ever, but it was her turn to go.

Astrid made her first shot in the middle cup against Buttscratch, the third row with three cups, and she received a round of applause before he took the cup and downed it one go. Taking the cloth ball out, Buttscratch swayed a little before taking a shot, bouncing the lip of one cup and plunking into the center one. Astrid picked the cup up, took the ball out, and drank it faster than Buttscratch previously did.

"Holy Valhalla, that girl can drink," a Viking on the sidelines spoke to their neighbor, and Astrid felt a surge of pride swell within her as she smirked.

Astrid took another shot and the ball landed in a cup in the forth row and he slugged it down, he made one, she made one, he made it, she made it, and it kept going back and forth until Astrid purposely missed her seventh shot so she could stop drinking the beer. "Woah! Holy shit, Astrid's a monster!" Tuffnut cheered, wrapping an overly-friendly arm around her neck and pulling her head into his shoulder, his other hand occupied with a mug. "Go Astrid!" Tuffnut nodded vigorously to the music. "Oh, dude—it's your turn, my man! Go, Nosebleed! Go, man, go!"

"Okay, Tuff…," Astrid said with a squished cheek, trying to shove Tuffnut away. She wasn't super buzzed, but she was feeling the slight jelly legged-ness.

Tuffnut looked down at Astrid like he forgot he was almost holding her in a headlock. "Oh, hey," he chuckled out. "You know, Astrid, can I tell ya somethin'?" Tuffnut asked, his grip never really loosening.

"What is it, Tuff?" Astrid rolled her eyes and looked up at him. His face was flushed with his helmet a little turned to the side and he absolutely reeked of alcohol. Astrid wrinkled her nose, knowing the smell probably wouldn't leave him until next week.

"You look—," he burped rather loudly and unattractively. "You look purdy with your hair down."

Astrid furrowed her eye brows and shoved him off, ignoring Ruffnut shaking her head and sniggering. "Shut up, Tuff. You're drunk," Astrid snapped and crossed her arms, watching Nosebleed chug down his second glass, and then he began falling to the side until the cup fell from his mouth and spilled all over his front. He stumbled into the wall of people with crazed laughing. Nosebleed righted himself, at least to the best of his drunken ability, and tried walking off before he ran into Stinger and lewdly grabbed her breast. Astrid started bursting out laughing when Stinger pulled her fist back and jammed it right into his nose.

"Go Stinger!" Tuffnut cheered, jumping around and spilling his ale onto a few people. They pushed him away but he recoiled back like a spring with rabid giggles. Stinger kicked Nosebleed on the floor, now with an actual nose bleed, and stepped over him to take her turn at beer ball.

Astrid stayed and watched until Ruffnut went and then after her the players began falling all over each other. The game broke up and Astrid slipped out of the group just as Tuffnut sat on Stinger's lap, only to get shoved off onto the ground with ale spilling into his hair.

Astrid strode around the giant hall with her arms crossed and hair flowing down to the small of her back, watching children run past with toy dragons, avoiding the dark shadows in case any couples were having their fun, and stopped to watch a few fights play out. A Viking party was never complete without a few brawls, and Astrid saw many play out in her short lifetime. Auda even got into one many years ago when her main rival dumped a mixture of sloppy food and vinegar on her head. Auda ended up winning because the girl got pulled off by her father and also because she fared the worst of the two. Auda only got a few bruises and a cut next to her brow that scarred and was still present to this day. It was that one time in history that Astrid rooted for Auda to win something, mostly because it was a damn good fight. Women on Berk did not fight like little girls with the hair pulling and screeches—they exchanged blows like the men, wrestling and trying to fervently get the upper hand. More often than not, the women's fights were watched more than the men's.

Astrid even remembered a time when her mother was almost induced into a fight, but she pulled herself out because Astrid was watching and she didn't want her daughter to see her kick total ass. Astrid was quite young at the time so she didn't remember much detail, just her mother sweeping her into her arms and hurriedly walking away while the lady yelled after them, and also from the stories Arnheim told. Astrid knew that if she ever got into a bar fight, she would win hands down and that she wouldn't back out for anything. She would win and that was certain.

Astrid swiped a smallish goblet filled with wine from a table, not really caring whose it belonged to. She didn't really mind wine, but she liked mead better, and it was the closest thing nearby to wash the fermenting taste of beer from her mouth. She really hated beer.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was having quite the time watching his father and Gobber race each other to see who chugged faster. Apparently, it has been an on-going debate for years and years because they were both _soo _professional at it (_Yeah, right, _Hiccup thought sarcastically), and also because they could never remember who won. Spitelout was supposed to be the referee but his words were getting slurred together and he gave his job to Hiccup, who could honestly care less, and kept calling each round a tie.

"Hiccup! Yeh got—yeh got ta pay attention!" Gobber shouted a bit loudly despite the already roaring music.

"I am—," Lies.

"No, it's okay, Gobber, 'ee's a good son. A great son," Stoick waved Gobber off with a heavy hand and shined his son a grand, bleary-eye smile.

Oh, great. _Here is where he gets emotional like an old woman. _"Yeah, dad. I'll refill," and without haste Hiccup swiped Stoick's and Gobber's mugs before his father could say anything else, but he did hear things about him as he walked away. Stoick tended to talk a lot when drunk and it often led to him spilling his guts out to anybody who would hear. There was a rumor that past around before Hiccup was born that he spoke to a sheep all night and brought it back to Valhallarama as a new member of the family. Stoick viciously denied the rumors, but his wife told everybody it was true anyway. He would still deny it to this day.

Hiccup didn't like alcohol all that much. He wasn't able to even get a sip of anything until he was fifteen when he could finally reach the bar counter, and by then he thought he grew a permanent aversion to it. He would drink alcohol when offered out of politeness but he wouldn't actively go out seeking it, and if anything, he would drink it slowly. But, he did quite enjoy people-watching when the whole of Berk was drunk. He could remember a hundred stories out of the top of his head when men ventured outside to display their strength by uprooting trees and hauling boulders and throwing axes. Now that there were dragons around, there were a few instances where a house or two got lit on fire or crashed into. Hiccup had never gotten drunk, but he prayed he wouldn't be entirely incapacitated and moronic as some of the men.

Walking over to the bar with one mug in each hand, he weaved through clumps of people and dodged children, almost slipping on a puddle of ale once, and narrowly missing a swinging fist. However, as a new song picked up, he was roughly grabbed by the forearm and brought into the dance, dropping the mugs with drowned out clatters.

His stomach dropped.

"No!" He shouted to the woman who pulled him in but his voice was lost to the music. He didn't know the woman's name but she was short and reached to his chest, so when she pulled him uncomfortably close her cheek was almost against him. She rested her hand on his shoulder and his fell to her back and they held their hands outwardly, and suddenly Hiccup didn't know what he was doing. He was spinning around, skipping between people as the woman led him through, face red and smiling.

_Oh, Gods. Oh Gods, oh Gods. No, please end! _But then he was suddenly switched to another partner and the whole thing started over again; the spinning, the twirling, the awkward skipping. Hiccup's feet fumbled as the dance floor stopped in perfect time to spin their partners and clap to the music twice before beginning again. Okay, pattern. Hiccup could work with patterns. Another partner switch, more spinning, jumping, skipping, twirling partner, _clap clap_, spin and skip around, new partner. After a few more rotations, Hiccup began to relax into the music and he started to enjoy himself.

Astrid strode around with her wine glass, sipping on it, and watched the band play a little, sweat dripping off their foreheads in sheets from the fast pace they kept constantly. She turned her attention to the dance floor and spotted her sister, spinning around in a man's grasp, smiling bigger than she's ever seen her. Then Hiccup spun into view and Astrid just about spat her wine out in laughter.

"He's dancing!" she said to herself after she swallowed, almost laughing her head off.

He looked like a total dork dancing, she thought. He was a good head taller than most of the women and matched many of the men in height, but he just looked so funny. She had never in her life seen him dance. Astrid just laughed at the thought, shaking her head, watching him bring a woman's hand above her head and spin her around. But, thinking about it, Astrid found it a bit endearing he was dancing and smiling and laughing. He looked like he was having a good time. And, good, he put his hair in a pony tail. She would have snipped it off if he wasn't. It was a tiny thing, sticking out of the nape of his neck like a fan in all directions; his hair must have got a bit funny at the ends when it was long, she guessed. His cheeks were flushed as he skipped around with much more agility than Astrid expected from a person with one full leg. He seemed to have a grip on dancing like it was purely effortless. Who knew Hiccup Haddock could dance.

The song ended abruptly and the dance floor was still for almost ten seconds as the people watching clapped. Hiccup was catching his breath, hands on his hips and smiling down at his partner who could not have been a day over fourteen. A band member shouted and started clapping a beat and another song began. It was entirely different but much the same, and it was apparently a Irish dance due to most of the people he didn't recognize immediately form a clearing in the middle. People who still wished to dance stayed and a few left, but there was still a crowded dance floor. Strangely, Hiccup found himself wanting to stay.

He watched the couples in the center, carefully counting off steps as they switched around partners, hopped around in timed steps, stopped and clapped, hooked arms and spun around, switching two times, then back to the original partner. There seemed to be one constant partner in this dance.

And, spotting a dab of blonde hair, Hiccup found his partner.

Astrid was busy watching the new dance wildly start up so she hadn't noticed the lanky blacksmith come up to her and take her free hand. Astrid almost spilled her goblet over her dress, but she quickly handed it off to someone as she ran behind Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" she shouted, panic and anger mixing into a frothy brew in her stomach. "I can't dance!"

"Follow me!" he shouted over his shoulder and suddenly he whipped her around, pulled her close, and started leading her around the dance floor now filled with groups of dancing partners.

"Hiccup, let me go!" Astrid yelled at him, hitting his shoulder as she stumbled after him.

He only replied with a laugh, unfazed by her pounding his shoulder and unsuccessfully trying to knee him in the groin. He pulled her to a stop and clapped, Astrid trying to desperately keep up, but she _hated dancing. _She would have loved to have run off but that was cowardly and she was being pulled every which direction before she could. At first she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, but then she started to catch on when different parts of the song repeated when she would walk around her male partner and shake her skirts, then go back to skipping around again.

She was back to Hiccup after hooking arms with another girl, and she was actually relieved. "I will kill you for this!" she shouted up at him, now mindful of her and Hiccup's feet—well, his foot and his metal prosthetic.

"You seem to be having fun, too, Astrid," he pulled her apart and spun her around, once, twice, then three times, and then quickly pulled her back again, his left hand resting just at the middle of her back.

"Am not!" she cracked an unconscious smile, and seeing Hiccup's 'I told you so' face, she had to laugh. Okay, she was having fun. But she was still going to kill him.

Astrid switched partners again, coming chest to chest with Helsplitter. Astrid grinned stupidly up at him, trying her best not to snort out laughing knowing Ruffnut would kill to be in her position. He grinned down at her with a twitching brow, and with a few more skips and three twirls she had another partner.

Astrid secretly loved dancing now, but it was hard to hide a secret when in the middle of the dance floor with everybody watching and when sharing the same secret with someone else. She knew neither she nor Hiccup would truly admit it straight-faced, but they both knew it existed.

In the dances, Astrid always kind of looked forward to meeting Hiccup one way or another, whether it is hooking arms or tapping steps around him or him spinning her around. She liked being near his energy. The vibes he gave off were very contagious and Astrid couldn't complain; she was also enjoying herself. But she couldn't complain at all when his hand held hers tight or his other hand went a little farther south than the middle of her back, or even when she was pressed hard against his strong chest like he was protecting her or something equally outrageous. Astrid didn't need protecting from anybody, but it was oddly enjoyable when he pulled her in tight.

The dances ended in an abrupt halt just when the dancers met their partners face to face after a drawn out crescendo of flutes and fiddles. Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other, both grinning with heaving chests and red faces. Astrid was the first to pull away and drop her hands from his shoulder and outstretched hand, adjusting her long dress. The band hopped off the stage for a well-deserved break and the hall was filled with the din of laughter, talking voices, screeching chairs, toasting mugs, shouts and children.

Astrid adjusted her slightly off kilter headband and smiled up at Hiccup with raised brows. "Let's get something to drink," she took Hiccup's sleeve and he followed her with no objections, but he did manage to squeak out, "okay".

She led him around a few people to the close-by dive bar and squeezed through a couple of swaying Vikings to the counter. Astrid pulled Hiccup beside her, rather roughly, and shouted for a bartender. With Astrid's pretty looks, and standing out in lavender in a sea of male-orientated neutral tones, a husky bartender was standing in front of her in no time at all.

"Just a mead," she said. The bartender and Astrid looked to Hiccup, who started scrambling for words.

Alcohol? No alcohol? Uh—uh—"Same."

The bartender looked at him a bit strangely for a second, close to being deadpan, then turned and went to get two mugs for their mead. Astrid laughed and shook her head, throwing her mane of blonde hair over her shoulder. Hiccup watched her, nearly a head below him, and his stomach did weird topsy-turvies when she tossed her hair; her beautiful, long, golden yellow hair. Oh, how he missed her.

"What?" Hiccup spoke after her giggling ceased, cracking a crooked smirk and leaning his elbow on the bar.

"You don't drink much, do you?" Astrid asked calmly but her eyes were showing mischievous glints and her tiny smirk gracing her lips betrayed her voice. She cocked a thin brow and examined his scruff. Hiccup Haddock certainly looked attractive with his dusting of barely-there russet whiskers, paired with some amateur sideburns that were just fuzzy and not really sideburns.

Hiccup shook his head, watching a Viking past Astrid slug down a pint of ale briefly before looking back at her. "Nope. Not much."

"Have you ever been drunk? At all? Even buzzed?" Astrid asked and the two mugs were set in front of them. Despite what Hiccup said, he took the mug by the metal handle and gulped from it, and pulling it away he furrowed his brows tightly and licked his lips with a slight grimace. Astrid snorted in laughter and downed a few gulps.

Hiccup raised his brows and smiled. "Only once. Your sister kept refilling my glass and telling me to drink the whiskey and I did."

"Auda? Or Aislin? What?" Astrid looked at him incredulously with tightly knit eyebrows.

"Auda. I met her in Dublin and she sewed up a gash on my chest after some bar fight," Hiccup waved his hand and took another sip. "I don't really remember much but it hurt really bad is all I know. The whiskey really helped to numb the pain," he laughed airily but Astrid was still confused, even looking a bit mad.

"She never told me she met you in Dublin!" Astrid searched his grown-up features, not entirely happy she was left out of the loop, again.

"_I _told you in a letter I sent you, but… you didn't reply to any," Hiccup said solemnly among the din of Mead Hall, looking into his mug, swirling it around. Astrid deflated, remembering the dozen or so letters he sent she had never opened, stashed away in a dresser drawer somewhere. She even blushed.

"Oh… right," and to drown out the couple of awkward seconds, she threw her head back and emptied half of her mug and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Hiccup was quiet but he wasn't moping like he used to do; instead, he seemed to be entirely lost in thought, swimming inside his mug which looked like it was really interesting to him. Astrid watched him, having a gut feeling that she knew what was racing in his head. She decided to wait, however, until he chose to speak, watching him look at his mug and then around to the people and then back to his mug, standing up straight, switching his feet into different positions. Hiccup was the fidgety type, Astrid noticed. Astrid didn't fidget unless she was nervous, but right now she was very content, even a bit buzzed.

"Astrid, I, uhm…," Hiccup looked at her briefly but averted his eyes to the barrels of ale, mead, beer and a whole lot of other beverages behind the counter. "I just wanted to say...,"

"No, wait," Astrid held up a hand before taking a sip of her favorite alcoholic drink. "Before you start to annoy me with your endless apologies, let me first," she laughed, warmth spreading to all parts of her body from her stomach.

Hiccup raised his brows, almost disappearing into his sheet of bangs. Astrid, apologize? What? He had been gone for far too long to see this drastic change in her. She had certainly matured in a way Hiccup didn't expect for he _expected_ her to be much the same: young and brash and someone who would never apologize for anything, unrelenting and unchanging like the sun. Hiccup was baffled, promptly shutting his mouth to hear her words of apology he would probably never forget.

"Okay, I know you broke your promise and all," Astrid started with the beginnings of an embarrassed smile. "but _I'm _sorry for over-reacting. I didn't need to punch your tooth out—but it sure as Hel felt good," she let out a ripple of laughs that made Hiccup grin.

"It's okay. I found a white looking stone and I carved it so it would look somewhat like a tooth and I stuck it in so it looks okay, I guess," he pulled his lips aside by the corner of his mouth and pointed to the stone, a bit more grey than the white teeth around it, but it did look like a tooth. At least it wasn't a dark grey pebble like Gobber's that stuck out like a wrong picket in a fence.

Astrid raised her brows and nodded in approval. "Well, I'm still sorry. But you did deserve a punch."

"And a very painful kick to the groin, too, right?" Hiccup couldn't help but smile a little. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled and her hair was down and she was wearing a dress and she just looked simply beautiful. Everything Astrid was beautiful, to sum it up.

"Yup. And that too." They shared a few laughs and a couple of swigs of their drinks, falling back into a smiling-mouthed silence between them while the Hall raged on. "Oh, and uhm… I wanted to _thank _you for the, uh… souvenirs? You sent me?" Astrid scratched her cheek, nervous and unaccustomed to thanking someone for gifts she actually liked. For a birthday present a few years ago, her grandmother sent her a doll like she was still six. But, Hiccup seemed to know what she liked without even seeming to try.

"Oh, sure," Hiccup smiled before sipping from his mug. "I saw them and I thought you would like them. I wasn't sure about the necklace, but it had blue-colored scales like you Nadder so I just went with it."

That was so sweet of him. She looked down at the warped wood of the counter, allowing a small smile grace her mouth. "I wore it one day and went to go get Spike ready for a ride and she wouldn't stop sniffing the scales." Astrid's eyes danced from anywhere but Hiccup, trying to carry on the rest of her sentence with quick-paced halting words despite how awkward she felt. It wasn't entirely being around him that that made her feel this way, it was mostly her hazy mind and her lack of perception of the moment that made her think the situation was awkward. Hiccup was simply chuckling to himself at her antics while Astrid cursed the whoozy, drunken butterflies in her stomach.

Hiccup nodded. "They're Barnacle-backed Spooknoose dragon scales. They live in tide pools, apparently, in Ireland. Brandan told me about them and they're really ferocious," Hiccup explained conversationally, quickly taking a sip of his mead. Astrid sighed and prepared herself for a long dragon-related conversation.

"When he explained what a Barnacle-backed Spooknoose looked like, I couldn't believe those scales were from the back of a… Barnacle-backed Spooknoose, because, well, they don't have barnacles on them," Hiccup used his hands to demonstrate, his face equally expressive and animate.

"Obviously," Astrid smiled.

"But," Hiccup started with a special twinkle in his eye. "he said, "Tha's thuh beauty of 'em!"," he replayed back to her in the thick Irish accent Brandan possessed, and when Astrid giggled at it, he felt a flame of confidence grow. "He said, picking up a Spooknoose and holding it around its neck to restrain it, 'Yeh gotta take oof thee barrnackles, er—_scrape _them off—ta geet to dee scales oonderneath, and aren't thay beautiful?' And Brandan sits down on a rock, holding the squirming Spooknoose between his knees and pulls out this long hunting knife," Hiccup shows Astrid the approximate length with his hands, about seven inches apart. "And for a second I think he's going to kill it, but he says, "Oh, hold on naow, varmit", and he scrapes off a couple of dead barnacles and underneath are very bright blue scales, but brighter than the ones you have because they boil them to sell, and he plucks off a couple off to show me. Fresh scales like that sparkle. There's tiny flecks of silver in them, hidden underneath ugly barnacle armor," Hiccup slowed down his speech toward the end, reaching the point of his story.

"Are there more Spooknoose?" Astrid asked, now sitting comfortably on a stolen stool while Hiccup stands beside her. Her eyes are alight and glimmering, full of interest. She was still dancing over the thought of Hiccup actually getting her a necklace and how thoughtful it was of him to actually get her anything. Astrid couldn't think of any words to string together in her hazy mind to express her gratitude, but the unfinished thought was provoking a twisted feeling in her stomach.

"Yeah, but they're only south of here. But, it's only the Barnacle-backed Spooknoose that have the prettiest and come off with no barnacle attached. Ironic, isn't it?" Hiccup chuckled and Astrid nodded. "Auda said it fit you perfectly, that necklace, coming from a Barnacle-backed Spooknoose; a grossly armored thing, but once you dig deeper you find the hidden treasure."

Astrid's mouth fell open briefly before she burst out laughing. She laid a hand on her chest and ran the other through her hair, still giggling even a minute later. "Auda said that? What a hag," she was only being half-serious, the insult empty as she settled down and fixed her hair.

Hiccup shrugged. "She's right, though. It fits you," he reverted to kind and shy Hiccup at the flip of coin, casting his eyes downwards and blushing a little. Astrid furrowed her brows briefly but when he looked up at her after a few intense seconds, she didn't know what to think. His weirdly colored eyes were exploding with truth but hidden secrets Astrid couldn't quite figure out. It was like he wanted to say something, she noticed, as he rubbed his lips together but he was holding himself back. His eyes were deceiving him, showing her his emotion without realizing. Astrid was one of the most observant women on Berk, and Hiccup could occasionally be a subject worth observing (and lately, in a good way rather than bad).

Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but a familiar voice interrupted her. "Astrid! Aaaaassstriiiid!"

Both Hiccup and the girl in question looked behind their shoulders to see none other than their rambunctious and obnoxious friend Ruffnut standing on a table searching the crowds. Astrid rolled her eyes and sighed to Hiccup, who laughed, and raised her free hand to wave Ruffnut over.

"Oh my Gods, she's crazy," Astrid said to Hiccup discreetly as Ruffnut jumped down clumsily and shoved people aside to reach her friend.

"Is that Tuff's helmet…?" Hiccup pointed to the object Ruffnut was using to whack people aside.

"I—I—," Astrid sputtered between laughing, and then Ruffnut was up in her face, pulling her by a clump of hair.

"_You_," Ruffnut growled, eyes extremely glassy, and her breath reeked of ale and beer.

"Hey, Ruff, wanna let go of my hair?" Astrid's voice and expression were pleasant, but her intents were malicious, and even being incredibly inebriated, Ruffnut picked up on that. She let go of Astrid's hair and stepped back on wobbly feet like she was on a boat.

"Astrid," Ruffnut started with an almost unintelligible slur. "Yeh gotta take me home," Ruffnut blinked dumbly at her and Astrid smacked her forehead in remembrance.

"Oh, that's right! I'm at your place tonight!" Astrid sighed and took once last swig of her mug before hopping off the stool. "Hey, Hiccup, what time is it?" She asked as she took Ruffnut's skinny arm and slung it around her shoulders, gripping her firmly by the waist.

"I guess well after midnight," Hiccup replied while glancing around Mead Hall, looking considerably less full than two hours ago when he danced.

"Okay, yep, time to go home," Astrid said with struggle in her voice, trying to hold a limp Ruffnut while she giggled saying she felt like a dead fish. Hiccup immediately set down his mug and went to help Astrid, taking Ruffnut's other arm and resting it over his shoulder. But, because of his newly gained height from growth spurts a couple months back, he more or less leaned to the side to match Astrid's shoulder height.

"What about Tuffnut, Ruff?" Astrid asked, not too entirely concerned about the dumbass who called her 'purdy', but she did at least want to know where he was so his twin wouldn't blame her next morning about his mysterious whereabouts.

"He's—," she hiccuped. "he's wif Snotface 'notlout," Ruff's legs were all but dragging on the dirt and straw covered floors, about to slip from her supporter's grasps. "Don' worry 'bout him. Let's not worry 'bout… 'bout nuffin' for once, guise," Ruffnut spoke like she was preaching the greatest words ever spoken. "I mean… isso… isso beautifool ousside!" She said just as they emerged out of the giant wooden doors, Tuffnut's helmet now on Astrid's head, lopsided, and she and Hiccup struggled to keep Ruffnut upwards on their way out.

"Hiccup—she's—," Astrid spoke but suddenly they were stopped and Ruffnut's arm slipped off her lavender-clothed shoulder.

"Astrid, help her get on my back, I'll carry her from here," Hiccup asked with a bowed head, still hunched over from trying to equal Astrid's height, trying to find a suitable grip on Ruffnut's waist. Astrid stared a him for a few seconds, dumbfounded, and went to help him heave her stupid best friend onto his back like a sack of potatoes.

"There. So much easier," Hiccup flashed Astrid a toothy smile when he finally got the drunken female twin adjusted on his back.

Still mind-blown, Astrid said, "You know, two years ago and your legs or back would have broken."

"Well, what legs I have left," she shook his prosthetic and laughed, descending the staircase where some passed out Vikings lay. Astrid was glad he could laugh about it instead of being an irritating mope.

"Amigad, this… is awesome!" Ruffnut flung her arms up and arched her back so much she almost brought both her and Hiccup tumbling backward. It took Astrid smacking her on the back and teensy mumbles of pleas from Hiccup to get her to relax. Ruffnut was an excitable drunk and wasn't an easy to one to take care of, apparently.

"Holy shit," Astrid said under her breath, Ruffnut now snoring into Hiccup's upper back, resting her hands on his hips. "I am never babysitting her again when she's drunk like this."

Hiccup grinned at her but didn't reply, adjusting his hands underneath Ruffnut's thighs; she was so _heavy_. Astrid simply smiled back, folding her arms behind her. It was a short, quiet walk to the Thorston's household but neither really minded; it was nice not to have to talk for a change. Astrid led them inside the older house, leaning toward its side, tiptoeing into the front room and slipping her shoes off at the front door.

"C'mon, their room's upstairs," Astrid whispered to Hiccup as she pulled off Ruffnut's boots and carefully set them down, leading him to the thin and steep staircase in the kitchen that lead up to the upstairs rooms. At the top of the staircase, Astrid stopped Hiccup from walking down the hall.

She turned to him, face only illuminated from the candle hanging on the wall, eyes livid. "Stay here. I have to clear a walkway in their room because it's disgusting, but also because the floor's squeaky when too many people are on it."

Hiccup nodded, finding it kind of funny that Astrid knew so much about Ruffnut's house, and the fact that she was even staying here for the night surprised him. The two girls hardly seemed like good friends when he was with them two years ago. Hiccup obeyed, however, holding onto Ruffnut easily enough though his back was getting sore. He felt manly offering to carry her home in front of Astrid and she seemed pretty surprised. He had definitely come a long way and he was, for once, proud of himself and who he was. But, man, it felt awesome feeling manly, full of the raw Viking-ness that was finally escaping.

Astrid kicked pathway through clothes, dull weapons, shoes, dolls, and random items that didn't seem to belong in their room like books and pots. Astrid didn't really care at the moment because now she was suddenly dead tired and desperately wanted to go to sleep.

"Ow!" she hissed quietly when she kicked a shield with her foot, hopping on the other. "Odin's ghost…," she mumbled annoyingly and massaged her toes before limping to the door to call Hiccup inside.

Despite the extra baggage, Hiccup was quiet and managed to make few squeaks in the noisy floor as he walked down the short hall to Ruffnut and Tuffnut's room. The whole room was dark except for the single window between two messy beds, and Astrid's dress was oddly a light purple in the silver light, and from it, Hiccup could see faint shadows of her calves through the fabric. He blushed and quickly pretended like he didn't just suck in a gulp of air by purposely hitting his shoulder against the door frame.

"Gods, Hiccup, come _on_," Astrid almost growled at him, taking him by the front of his tunic and leading him down the cleared path to Ruffnut's bed on the right. Hiccup turned and carefully set her down on the bed, but being flustered and clumsy he dropped her too quickly and Ruffnut almost fell to the floor.

Astrid was trying to be annoyed but she was snorting back laughter, realizing the absurdity of this whole ordeal. Finally she started laughing, but quietly, backing up to sit on Tuffnut's bed opposite.

"What?" Hiccup asked, trying to put Ruffnut's leg back on the bed for the third time as it kept falling off.

"Nothing, just this… is so… stupid! It's stupid," she kept laughing, but Hiccup had no idea what she was talking about, he was just focusing on how the light from the window and the folds of her dress around her knees cast just perfect shadows. And how he could see the roundness of her collarbone as she was slightly bent over, and also how her hair fell over her shoulders. He sighed and bit his lip lazily, hoping he would remember to draw it later.

"How is it stupid?" he sat on Ruffnut's bed at her feet and pretended he was observing her chest for purely artistic reasons.

"This!" she whispered back loudly, rubbing her forehead. "Talking to you in Ruff and Tuff's room while Ruff's asleep and Tuff's nowhere to be found."

"He's with Snotlout," It was becoming harder for Hiccup to think when looking at how her chest expanded and deflated ever so slightly—

"Duh! Get out, Hiccup, this is weird," Astrid stood up, spoiling his misty fantasies, and shooed him.

He stood and shook his head, coming back to reality. "Are you sure?" he glanced to Ruffnut snoring on her bed, looking awfully comfortable.

"_Yes, _I'm sure. See you tomorrow, Hiccup," she turned her back to him to throw some covers over Ruffnut.

"T—tomorrow?"

_Shit! _Did she really just say that? "Yeah, tomorrow… for Auda and Brandan's morning gift?" she came up and said something right on the spot and she thought she did pretty well

"Oh, right," something in Hiccup's voice fell a bit. "See you tomorrow, Astrid," he said as he left the room, but his voice went back to being deep and dorky and Hiccup.

"Yeah," Astrid groaned and let her head fall into Ruff's pillow, doubting she was still the same always-sure Astrid she _thought _she was. Two years can do a lot and Astrid believed that full-heartedly as she pushed Ruff to the wall so she could crawl in bed next to her. Two years definitely changed Astrid in some ways, but with Hiccup now back around and doing some funky things with her heart, she felt the summer of her life coming head on.

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Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I can't thank you enough! I already got 25 for THREE chapters! That's never happened to me before, so I can't be more grateful! THANK YOU! :D


	5. Chapter 4

I'm so, so, so sorry. It happened again. LONG CHAPTER, GUISE. I'm so terrible D: When I write, I use regular loose-leaf paper, so I tend to lose track of how many pages I actually write... I get so absorbed. Ha... There's a lot going on, take it slow, absorb this chapter, listen to some music, relax...

Anyway. Funnies galore. Definitely my favorite chapter so far.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Four

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"Astrid… Astrid…," Ruffnut groaned, rolling over to prop herself up onto her elbow, leaning close to Astrid with wobbling balance, even in the morning.

"What, Ruff?" Astrid said in a very unpleasant voice. She hardly got a wink of sleep during the night because Ruffnut kept kicking her and she snored like a beast from Hel, and, in general, the bed was too small for both girls anyway. Yes, she could have stolen Tuffnut's bed because he evidently never showed up last night, but not even Loki himself would sleep in that bed, so there was no way Astrid would in the right mind.

"Astrid, you need to get me…," Ruffnut swallowed hard, her eyes almost rolling into the back of her head as she blinked.

"What? Get you _what_?" Astrid opened her eyes in the dim morning light, figuring she would be unable to even remotely get to sleep now.

"I'm gonna be sick," And without warning, Ruffnut pulled herself over Astrid and wretched her stomach contents onto the floor between the two beds, a sick splashing noise following.

Astrid's mouth and eyes were wide with horror and she couldn't speak for a good thirty seconds. Ruffnut sat back and wiped her mouth with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry… but I feel better now at least."

"Ruffnut!" Astrid shrieked, pulling herself up to sit against the headboard, expression torn among disgust, anger and shock. "Ruffnut!" she said a second time, unable to find the right combination of words to reprimand Ruffnut for puking on the floor while laying _over _her.

"I'll clean it up, chill out—,"

"No! You just puked! While lying on top of me! That is not okay! How could you think that is okay?" Astrid was now making disgusted faces while shaking her hands like she had touched the vomit itself, curling her knees to her chest.

Ruffnut leaned a bit over, raising her brows to peer over the edge of the bed. There was hardly anything, mostly just ale and spit and some bread, but it wasn't too gross…. "Relax, Ast. I'll clean it up."

Remembering how horrendously messy the entire room was, and remembering last night (a little hazy, however), Astrid said intently, "And the rest of your room, too, while you're at it. I kicked my foot on a shield last night so Hiccup wouldn't trip carrying you in, for Odin's sakes," Astrid smoothed down her hair to the best of her ability and took her headband from the nightstand and fitted it around her head, pulling her bangs out to swish against her forehead. Unbeknownst to her, Ruffnut's face was flaming red.

"Hiccup? Hiccup was here?" she was halfway climbing out of the bed when she spoke, face long and unbelieving when Astrid nodded at her like she was dumb.

"Yeah, he carried your drunk ass here and hauled you up the stairs like a sack of potatoes," Astrid told her while climbing to the end of the bed as well to avoid the puddle of vomit. "But now, I am going home. I feel like shit."

"Hiccup was actually here? Then where's Tuff?" Ruffnut asked, taking one of her brother's dirty tunics off the floor and using it swab up her puke. Astrid probably would have smacked her for it if she wasn't busy twisting her dress around to fit properly.

"You said he was with Snotlout," Astrid replied, wiping the sleep from her eyes and beginning to yawn.

"I said that? Oh, well, shit, I don't know where he is, then. I was _drunk_, Astrid. I was so drunk. And you let _Hiccup _carry me here?" Ruffnut was piling clothes in her arms and kicking objects aside with her feet in her version of room cleaning, pushing things further under the two beds and throwing the heap of clothes in the closet.

"I don't really care, to tell you. And why're you so worked up about Hiccup? It's just him. And he's an idiot," Astrid helped Ruffnut slam the door closed after catching a few things that wanted to escape the over-stuffed closet.

Ruffnut snorted, and with one final shove, the closet clicked shut. "Don't pretend like I didn't see you enjoy dancing with him last night," she sniggered when Astrid punched her arm.

"Okay. I'm leaving now," Astrid replied sternly, walking over to the door and wrenching it open.

"Don't forget to give him a juicy smooch for me!" Ruffnut called after her friend.

"Shut up!" Astrid yelled from the top of the stairs and Ruffnut burst out laughing as she stormed down the steps, holding up her wrinkled dress. _Mom's not going to be happy_, she thought when entering the Thorston's kitchen, the three younger Thorston's all yelling around the breakfast table and pulling hair and playing with food. Astrid said a polite 'good morning' to both Mr. and Mrs. Thorston, and gave a couple smiles to Ruffnut's younger sisters who all stopped to say hi to Astrid.

Astrid walked out of the kitchen too swiftly to be asked to be offered any breakfast, and she was _so _thankful Hilda Thorston didn't ask because she would feel rude to turn it down. If she had accepted, she would have had to eat at that rambunctious table for a third time, and because after Ruffnut's display earlier this morning, she felt a little uneasy herself. Astrid slipped on her shoes and closed the door quietly behind her just as one sibling began to screech in tears.

She hurriedly walked through the village with her head down, cursing this long, stupid dress she was wearing. She wished she brought a change of clothes to Ruffnut's house last night so she didn't have to sleep in the damned thing too and walk around in it after the wedding party was over. Astrid was _not _in a pleasant mood. And it seemed to her, neither were many of the villagers walking around with nasty hangovers still lumbering them down. Today sounded like a great day for a long nap.

But, _ugh_, Astrid still had to show up at Mead Hall for Auda and Brandan's morning gift, _and _hang out with her family the rest of the day while aunts and uncles showered the newly weds with gifts. Today _also _sounded pretty dismal to Astrid.

Walking into her house, it was already full of family members who hardly noticed her slink in and up the stairs, just like Astrid planned. She went to her room quietly and quickly changed out of her lavender dress into an indigo-colored tunic. She remembered she had to pull her chest of summer clothes out of the attic because most of her tunics were for winter and fall. But, finding herself unable to really care too much, she just promised herself she would do it tomorrow as she flung her hair up into a quick, professional braid. She cinched a belt around herself and checked her headband in her looking glass before venturing downstairs.

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Brandan's gift to Auda was a beautiful bracelet made with Celtic knots and green and silver beads, made by Brandan himself. Auda blushed a deep crimson and the people present in Mead Hall clapped when the wedding rituals were over once Auda handed Brandan a ring of keys to the Hofferson household. It was usually the other way around, but this was the start of the Hofferson girls defying tradition.

Astrid sat down next to Ruffnut at their usual table, her friend seeming like she had not vomited on the floor at all, recoiling back to her original self with hardly a trace of a hangover. Fishlegs, on the other hand, had his head on the table, probably faring the worst out of all of them, complaining of a raging headache. Snotlout had his chin in his palm, looking half dead, and he hardly even acknowledged his cousin coming to sit down next to him. Hiccup looked just like Hiccup; he hardly seemed damaged.

"Hey, where's Tuff at?" Hiccup, always observant (sometimes), asked to no one in particular.

"He was supposed to be with _Snotface_," Astrid directed a subtle insult to both Snotlout and Ruffnut for being stupid and ridiculously drunk.

"Hey, he disappeared. I had no idea where he went," Snotlout shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Because you were _drunk_," Astrid snapped.

"Well, _yeah_, it was a party after all."

Astrid slapped a hand to her face, opening her mouth to speak, but Ruffnut jumped in first. "How could you lose him? You guys are, like, attached at the hip."

"Are not," Snotlout replied like a drone, his hand sliding up his face to screw up the right side of his features.

"Oh, there's Tuff," Fishlegs said quietly out of nowhere, his head off the table with an imprint of the wood texture on his forehead. He had his finger lazily raised in the direction Tuffnut was in, but his arm was unstable and he let it fall to the table with a loud _thunk_. The table turned and everyone saw Tuffnut stride into Mead Hall with a characteristic stumble and a girl under his arm, grinning stupidly with his clothes on backwards and no boots and no sign of his helmet. Snotlout started rolling around laughing even before Tuffnut walked up to the table, the girl under his arm kissing his cheek and parting ways at the door. Tuffnut scratched his head, face cracked with his maniacal grin and a reddish tinge to his cheeks.

"What the Hel _happened_ last night?" Ruffnut said as his brother sat down next to her.

"Tuff! Oh, Gods, man! What… was that? What happened! I can't even remember!" Snotlout was suddenly brought to life and wide awake, and the two boys were chuckling madly while everyone else around the table was confused.

"I don't even know!" Tuffnut threw his head back laughing. "But, dude! Where'd you go? What's-her-face was looking everywhere for you!"

"Who? Oh—shit! That's right! Oh, Gods, what's her name…?" Snotlout rubbed his thick eyebrows trying to recollect. "Oh! Agnes! Or something like that."

"Who was that, Tuff?" Ruffnut asked, elbowing her brother to get his attention.

"That was, uhm—,"

"You can't even remember her name!" Ruffnut shrieked.

"No, no, it was Snaggletooth… I think," he chuckled when Ruffnut promptly punched him in the shoulder. "But, yeah, I… I don't even know what happened last night after we got to her house."

Almost everyone's mouth fell open and Fishlegs was the first to start laughing, then everyone joined in. "Tuff the Ladies' Man," Snotlout jokingly dubbed him, bumping fists.

"And Fish even had a chick!" Tuffnut said. "Do you remember her name?" The laughing started again when Fishlegs smiled and shook his head.

"Don't let them taint you," Astrid said with a kidding smile to him.

"Yeah, you're probably the most pure out of all of us," Tuffnut said, running his hand through his tangled hair in an incredulous manner. He was still unable to grasp the night's events, but he did remember the beer ball part, but that was in the way beginning of the night. So who knows what could have gone down from then on out.

"Nah. It's probably Hiccup," Snotlout nudged the quiet blacksmith next to him, who smiled a bit. Years ago, he would have been offended but right now he was just happy to be here.

The sight of cousin-picking-on-cousin was familiar; Astrid felt a sting of sympathy for Hiccup. Remembering all those years he was constantly being picked on by Snotlout and Tuffnut, remembering how she kept her mouth shut and even laughed along, Astrid felt an incurable need to redeem all those years, mostly for herself, but for Hiccup as well. Currently, it was a playful aspect what Snotlout said, all the meaningful insults and put-downs needed to be erased and forgiven because Hiccup did not deserve any of it.

She felt strange in her own body when she spoke next, feeling a weird tingling sensation spread from the core of her chest to every limb, and she would never know why she thought this was the moment to defend Hiccup after all the years she never did. "Don't worry, 'Lout, I made sure Hiccup drank plenty last night," she said, knowing it was as subtle as a whisper because Snotlout listened to every word she spoke like it was from the Edda (2) themselves. She smiled faintly, more to reassure herself that she was still Astrid and not some nice freak, but inside she still felt weird. She did not understand anything she was feeling lately.

Hiccup looked at her briefly with glowing eyes, shining from the bright late-morning light coming from the wide open door. Astrid felt herself blush but he looked away quickly enough when Snotlout punched his shoulder approvingly. The little group fell into a long conversation trying to recollect memories from the previous night to make sense of it all, piecing together bits to make a sensible storyline, it seemed, but some parts did not fit into the puzzle at all. The twins had the hardest time remembering all the recounted events, but Fishlegs seemed to have the better memory for it all. It was mainly him that remembered the major pieces, but none of it made sense still. The night was still a total mystery, but a fun and memorable one at least.

Astrid left the table when her cousin came to collect her to bring her back to her house, but she did not mind because she was left out of much of the conversation anyway. She had most of her memories intact, but she laughed along when they did, but she was really caught in her own world. She thought Hiccup was thinking the same thing because he did not put much input in either, but that could have been because they had not been with the other three at all the entire night.

Astrid's house was again crowded when she arrived, full of old family and new family that she would probably never remember names for, all sitting around, standing, chatting, laughing, eating. She squeezed her way through aunts and uncles an dodged racing little cousins and family friends, finding her way through the crowd to get up to her room. She quickly snatched Auda's wedding present off her nightstand and went downstairs again, making sure her room door was shut tight. Astrid found Auda sitting next to Brandan on the living room bench, surrounded by bowls and boxes and little baby clothes and yarn, kitchen utensils, shields, bottles of whiskey, wine, mead, knitted socks, fur hats, blankets, and everything in between. It was almost comical all the stuff they received. Astrid stepped her way to Auda and handed her the parcel wrapped in twine.

"_Another _present?" Auda said in exasperation, but she was smiling, so Astrid smiled back.

"Yeah. I made it myself. Let me know if you like it, you might hate it," Astrid said a bit seriously for the happy energy throughout the house.

"Oh, I won't hate it," Auda said as she pulled away the twine, and opening up the parchment, she almost screamed with shock and surprise. "Diddy! You made this?"

"Yeah…."

"It's so pretty!" Auda shrieked, bringing much of the attention back to her again as she stood up and held the dress out, presents falling from her lap to the floor. "Ohh, Diddy… it's so perfect. Oh my Gods… I… don't know what to say. It's so beautiful." Auda held the dress to her body as women flocked around them, cooing at the dress in awe, touching the rich and soft fabric, fingering the pink flowers on the bodice. "Thank you," Auda's eyes were watery when she looked at her sister.

"You're welcome," Astrid replied when Auda hugged her, noticing her hair was in the traditional braided bun at the nape of her neck rather than long and flowing and straight. Auda had the best hair out of the three girls because it was pretty and straight and not wavy and near unmanageable like Astrid's and Aislin's hair.

"Astrid, this is beautiful!"

"Oh, my…."

"It's perfect!"

"Look at those little flowers!"

"What perfect stitching!"

Aunts and family friends were swooning over the dress, patting Astrid on the back in congratulations, ruffling her hair. Even the most popular village seamstress was mightily impressed. It was a simple yet beautiful dress that really showed off Astrid's exceptional skill and handiwork in sewing, and she was genuinely proud of it.

"I will _pay _you if you make me a dress like that," Astrid's older cousin said.

"Uhm…."

"Astrid, you should apprentice yourself to Hallbera. She could really use a girl like you."

"Uh—okay?" Astrid liked all the attention, but she was not sure what to do with it all, and right now, she felt like being left alone.

"Absolutely! Stop by my stall tomorrow at noon, Astrid," Hallbera said, holding the soft fabric of the dress and inspecting a few of the stitches with wide and approving eyes.

"Okay," Astrid said without really knowing what she was saying or saying it to, and slinked out of the ring to the kitchen. After a few minutes of denying dress requests and saying 'thank you' about a hundred times, Astrid slipped around her giant uncle and was safely in the kitchen where most of the men were. They did not pay her any mind as she slipped on someone's boots that were quite too large for her and left the house quietly.

She took a big breath and exhaled it slowly with her back against the door. Today was an off-day. It all started last night when Hiccup pulled her in to dance, then it was this morning with Ruffnut puking across her onto the floor, Tuffnut walking into the Mead Hall without his helmet and bare feet, and then Hiccup looking at her all weird when she spoke up for up. Astrid groaned and hit her head against the door. _Why did I do that? I don't have to be so nice to him. But… ugh! Why does it have to be hard being seventeen? I wish I was ten again. Thor's beard_, she thought when walking past the chickens to the back barn where her dragon was. She kicked aside stray pebbles and dried white chicken scat, knowing her mother would make her sweep the packed dirt sometime later. She walked over the chicken wire fence and in the boots she did not know who they belonged to, she clunked her way through the open grass where Spike was probably keening over herself in the broken looking glass Astrid put in there just for her.

"Hey, there, Spike," Astrid said as she walked into the open barn with a sigh. Spike raised her giant head crowned with sharp spears and looked at her rider with questioning eyes, making a noise of concern. "I'm fine, but things have been weird lately," Astrid replied with a gentle smile, scratching Spike's nose. "Sorry I haven't been around lately, girl," she sat down in front of her dragon on the straw, a gentle breeze flowing through the barn.

Spike made a noise like 'yeah, jerk' and wiggled her tail end pompously in the straw. Astrid let out a huff of laughter, tickling Spike's chin with a couple of straw pieces. "Hey, at least I gave you _two _fish baskets this morning in apology. That's gotta count for something." Spike wiggled her tail, and Astrid noticed there were a few quills lodged in the barn wall. Again, something she knew one of her parents would moan about, but most likely her mother because she pretty much did everything around the house. Arnheim was not home a lot of the time, but when he was, it was like everyone was walking on egg shells, except that now Brandan was living with them he seemed to relax a bit. Maybe.

Astrid groaned and mashed her palm into her forehead, elbow on her knee. "I wish everything was like it was a couple months ago. I had just got used to everything, and then stupid Hiccup comes around and Auda comes home and dad's actually acting normal and it just doesn't feel right," Astrid mumbled. "and last night…," she trailed off, sighing, closing her eyes. Though Spike was usually a self-centered snot, she understood when Astrid needed a little reassurance or nudge in the right direction. She was like Astrid's shadow in a sense, always looking out for her; they got along well because Astrid did the same.

Spike rubbed her nose into Astrid's hair and blew into it in her way of comfort. Astrid raised her head and rubbed the sides of her snout with both hands, one of Spike's favorite scratch places. "Hiccup… he made me dance with him. You know how I hate dancing." Spike made a guttural noise of agreement. "But, dancing with him… made me… like it? I guess? I don't know. It seemed more fun dancing with him somewhere in the ring than by myself, I suppose. And… oh, Gods, I feel so dumb saying this," Astrid chuckled humorlessly and ran a hand through her hair.

Spike blinked at her, almost saying 'go on' as she nipped at her toe nails with her beak. "Hiccup… _Hiccup_… ah, he, uhm—," Spike chirped and flapped her wings. "Okay! Relax, girl, I'm taking my time," she chuckled. "Well, you know I was wearing that dress of Aislin's that she gave me forever ago—er—well, grew out of." Why couldn't she just spit it out! It was not that big of a deal anyway! "Okay, I guess I just felt pretty when he looked at me, and I don't ever feel pretty. Auda's pretty, Mom's pretty, Ruffnut's pretty, but not… me. I mean, I know I'm not ugly, but I just don't feel pretty, you know?"

Spike gave her a look like 'yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about' and Astrid just rolled her eyes. "Ugh—stop looking at me like that!" she yelled out, making herself jump. She just told one of her best friends her secret and she just gave her the stink eye. Astrid scoffed. "You're just like Auda, Spike. But I didn't mean to yell, sorry." She reached up and patted Spike's horn on her nose and she accepted her apology. She sighed and looked down at her hands, trying to think of where she left off.

"But, yeah, Hiccup was weird last night. Or maybe I was because I had five cups of beer, one glass of wine, and a pink of mead, so maybe it was me—but he's still weird," Astrid clarified. "But the way he just _looks_ at me, Spike, it's just—agh!" she covered her face in her hands and threw her head back. "It makes my stomach feel all weird and I feel like I'm going to barf sometimes, and it's never happened before! Maybe two years ago when he wasn't a _complete _moron, but that was a stupid crush back then. I kissed him on impulse—twice!—but…but, he's still nice to me even after I knocked his tooth out and hit him over the head with my boots and kicked him in the groin. Why is he so _nice_? To me? Of all people?" Astrid was not paying attention to what Spike was doing now, letting herself rant for once. "I mean, if someone did that to me, they better be prepared because I'd be very pissed. But Hiccup wasn't, or he didn't act like it. At least not at me, who inflicted him pain on purpose because he deserved it by being stupid and forcing his will on me. But did I tell you he has a stubble thing? It's not really around his mouth, Spike, it's just mostly on his jaw, and it actually looks pretty nice. When he kissed me, I liked it…not the kiss, just the whisker part. He still sucks at kissing, beaver teeth and all. But he's taller than me now, finally, an my head reaches his mouth, I think. I didn't look. I was just dancing with him." Astrid had, by now, gotten up to pace around the barn, doing menial tasks and using her arms as emphasis when she had not before. Hiccup was certainly rubbing off on her.

"Oh, Spike, and his hair is awful. It's long and gross and looks hideous, but last night he put it in a ponytail so that helped. But I think I saw him take it out before I left the Hall this morning. He better not have," Astrid sneered, pausing with her hands on the pitchfork she was using to scoop up dirty hay. Spike, who was cleaning her foot in the mirror, made a noise of confirmation, briefly looking at her. "That's a great idea, Spike, I'll go do it right now." Astrid threw down the pitchfork and clunked out of the barn. She passed through the chickens again and went inside to find a pair of scissors. The house was still full of family and other people she did not pay much mind to, and she walked out without acknowledging any voice that called to her. Astrid went out the back door and walked around the house, frame square and face set forward like she was on a dangerous mission with a smile on her face.

Astrid walked the few roads to the forge in her clunky boots, excited for what was coming. She passed through calmly enough, but approaching the stall where she could hear Hiccup hammering away, her pace quickened and gained more vigor. She tucked the scissors into the back of her belt and walked up to the open window, knocking on the sill to get his attention inside.

"Just a second!" Hiccup called from within and an almost sadistic smile crept onto Astrid's face. When had she ever been excited like this? She did not get excited for much these days except for weaseling her way out of the house to go throw her axe into her Favorite Tree, so getting riled up over something that was not a big deal made her even more excited.

Hiccup grabbed a towel and walked up to the window, rubbing his hands, completely bare-chested. "A-Astrid?" he choked out when he looked up, becoming so hot he felt like a sun within a fire. Astrid was here? What was she doing here? And why was she smiling like that?

_Holy Valhalla_… Astrid thought, her smile faltering a little bit, seeing Hiccup so… _shirtless_. She almost forgot her mission when inspecting his finely toned chest and faintly defined abs and his strong, yet lanky, arms. He was still skinny as ever, but _damn_, did he grow in all the right places.

Astrid blinked her eyes a few times and forced herself to look into his face. His eyes were wide but illuminated from the sun pouring in behind her. She smiled wider again. "Hi, Hiccup. Can I come in?" she said politely enough even though her heart was racing like a mad dogs' and her face was suddenly hot, and she could not blame the heat.

"U-uh, c-can I ask why?" Hiccup stuttered, but Astrid walked around to the door and let herself in anyway. It was a shop, after all. She stared at the wall of weapons and shields eligible to be bought, arms behind her back with the scissors up her sleeve.

"Maybe I want to look at some weapons," Astrid said offhandedly, giving him a smile over her shoulder. Hiccup stared at her. He was so confused. Astrid looked back to the weapons and strolled around quietly, rocking on her feet.

Hiccup noticed the too-large boots and furrowed his brows, picking up a dull sword and cleaning the smudges and dirt off with a rag where he stared at her legs. She had such great legs, long and smooth and pale, sticking out perfectly from her tunic that was too warm for summer. His eyes trailed further north and he almost let his mouth hang before he turned around to avoid looking at her butt. "Whose boots are those?" he said, his voice slightly quivering as he scrubbed the sword a bit too rough, biting his lip.

"I don't know. Probably from someone in my family," Astrid tucked the scissors into her belt when she reached for an axe on the wall. She unhooked it and spun it around in her grip, liking the crisp leather handle when she squeezed it and how the sharpness of the blade shown like a sliver lining on the edge. "My house is full of family and it got too crowded, so I just left."

Huh. She was being oddly… casual. Very much unlike Astrid. He turned once he had cleaned off the sword enough to his liking and found Astrid facing him with her arms crossed, a strange smile on her face. She was not good at hiding things, he thought when he blinked at her, trying to figure out what it was she was being so sneaky about.

"You look really stupid with long hair," she said bluntly, gesturing to the flippy ponytail he put his hair up in as she took a step forward.

"Do I?" he asked, at a loss for anything else to say, flicking his eyes to her boots before looking at her again. He let out a huff of nervous laughter when she put one foot in front of the other.

"I might just have to tie you to a chair and cut it off."

_Oh_, so that's the game she was playing. Well, a strange time to be doing so, but Astrid was never predictable in the first place. Tomorrow she could be running around the village naked—not that Hiccup or any other villagers of the male population would complain, but that was case and point. And besides, Hiccup could play games. He liked playing games. "I kinda like it long, and, hey, I have a sword and you're weaponless," he smirked when he saw her brows rise. And, yes, Hiccup can be cocky at times, especially when she was looking at him the way she was; he felt like macho-Viking.

_Oh, good play, Hiccup. _Astrid shrugged. "I'm not afraid of any sword, especially if you're wielding it."

"Oh, really?" Hiccup chuckled and that damn twist came back to Astrid's gut again. "Well, Astrid, I hope you know I learned how to use one."

"You probably suck."

"How do you know? You've never seen me fight before," Hiccup twisted the handle of the sword in his hand, making it arch and he pulled some more fancy movies until he poked the blunt tip of the sword into Astrid's stomach. She didn't flinch one bit.

Her eyes were narrowed and skeptical but that lovely fox-like smirk still graced her mouth. "Hiccup, I don't believe a word you say," and suddenly she had Hiccup's wrist holding the sword in her hand, making him drop the weapon with a clatter and a yelp as she twisted it behind his back. She took his other wrist and did the same with just as much protests.

"Astrid! Stop it! Ow! You are not cutting my hair—ow!" he objected, twisting and writhing in her surprisingly tight grip but he should not have doubted that. She made his wrist swell the time she found him and Toothless about to take off from Berk and most likely never return.

"Yes—I am! I'm not going to be looking at you like a rat died in your hair," she replied back haughtily, giving him an extra pull for good measure. Astrid led him forward where she saw a chair, leaning around his arm to see past him since he was taller than her now.

"It doesn't look like that! I combed it earlier this morning. And I took a bath yesterday," Hiccup complained, resisting as much as he could, but for such a small thing, she was pretty vicious. His hair really did not look too bad, it was actually pretty decent, but Astrid was not going to crush on him with his hair long. She would not have it. Wait, crush?

Astrid ground her teeth at that thought and looked over his pale and freckled shoulder, pulling out the chair with her foot. She threw him down into the seat and folded his arms around the back, swiftly grabbing a rope nearby and wrapping it around his chest and arms, successfully restraining him.

"This is _very_ one-sided, Astrid!" he still retorted as she pulled out his hair tie and whipped out her scissors from her belt. She simply smiled when she snipped off the first chunk of hair. "No! Oh, Gods, nevermind. Just take your liberties with _my_ hair, won't you?" he said dryly, giving up because she already made the first cut and it would look worse otherwise.

"Don't worry. It won't look bad. I've cut hair before," Astrid ignored his previous statement, snipping off a few delicate strands.

"I feel so relieved," he rolled his eyes and she just swatted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, at least you won't have to wear it in a ponytail anymore. Girls usually do that."

"I've seen plenty of Vikings and other men with their hair in ponytails," he pouted.

"Well, you'll just have to get used to it," she said in finality and Hiccup happily fell silent while she finished her work.

It did not take Astrid long to finish trimming his hair because it was not long in the first place. When she was done, it was cut short but still moppy and flippy at the ends, much like his hair when she first got to know him. She dusted the little hairs off his freckle-covered shoulders, took a brief bit of time to be surprised how soft his skin was, and untied the ropes that bound him. His hands flew to his hair and he ruffled it, shaking his fingers through the wild mess and resetting it back into place.

"Oh, wow," Hiccup said under a laugh, turning around din the chair to look at Astrid behind him.

"Do you like it?" Astrid asked tentatively and Hiccup smiled a bit more at how adorable she was.

"Yeah. I'll have to get to used to it again, but yes, I do like it," his eyes crinkled gently at the edges the way they always do when his smile is genuine. Hiccup stood up and dusted off his front, becoming every bit as nervous about his bareness again. To take his mind off his self-consciousness, he took a broom leaning against the wall and swept the trimmed hair into a pile that he would get back to later, maybe, if he did not forget.

"Well… I'm glad," Astrid said and rolled the rope back up and put it on the table where she found it. Her mouth had become dry all of a sudden and she found herself blinking more than normal when Hiccup was facing her. He looked really good, now with his hair cut and ponytail-less. Her hands were becoming sweaty. Was she getting embarrassed? Nervous?

"Was that the only reason you came here? To cut my hair?" Hiccup had a smile on his face and it showed in his voice though he felt like he was shaking all over despite the heat.

"Pretty much," she pulled her braid over her shoulder and held onto it, twisting her fingers in the strands, looking around, trying to look occupied. "But… I should be heading back. My mom probably needs me to help… or something,"

Hiccup laughed once at that and nodded. "Okay," he said contentedly, picking up the dropped sword from the floor. "Oh, Astrid?"

She turned around, a couple feet from the door, still holding onto her long and thick braid. "Uhm, thank you. I forgot to say that," he scratched the back of his head, another round of blushing rising to his cheeks.

She nodded and grinned. "You're welcome," and she turned around and left him, thumping away in somebody's clunky boots.

Hiccup let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding and ran his hands over his face. "Ohh, holy Odin," he said under his breath, so incredibly relieved that she was gone because he felt so stupid being half naked and sweaty, but yet he missed her too. He always found himself missing her a little when she left and it was becoming a habit he didn't necessarily want but did not mind at the same time. He always felt like a jumbled mess when things concerned Astrid, like today he was horrified, then suddenly confident, then in pain, and then disgustingly nervous. He should not be nervous to be shirtless around a girl; men on Berk do it all the time. But, then again, it was Astrid and she might surprise him with a titty-twister at some point so he supposed he had a right feel nervous. At least he was not the fishbone he had so rightly called himself so many years ago.

Hiccup went to heating up a couple of swords and spare pieces of metal to make some handles later. He pumped the bellows until the metal was red hot on all of them and carefully picked up one with gloves and a pair of pliers to hammer away at. A couple of hours later, he reshaped swords and added new handles to a couple of hammers and even fashioned a dinky arrowhead with what remaining scrap he had left. He looked over to the pile Gobber had so kindly set up for him, pleased it was noticeably smaller than before, but he would still have to work until the rest of the summer to finish it.

The sun was getting low in the sky just when he was about to leave, putting out the fire and cleaning up a little so he would not have to come back to a shop that looked like a dragon had flown through it. Locking up the door, he was almost startled to death when Tuffnut jumped him from behind, slamming him into the door.

"Holy shhhhhit, Tuff!" Hiccup rarely swore unless he burned himself, but he seriously almost peed his pants.

"Gotcha!" Tuffnut sniggered and Hiccup heard some tittering and Snotlout's unmistakable ripple of laughter. "Hey, man, you're coming with us," Tuffnut said with a punch to the shoulder when Hiccup looked behind him. There was that one girl Tuffnut walked into Mead Hall with this morning, and some other girl hanging onto Snotlout. What did they say their names were? Agnes and Snaggletooth?

"What? Why? What're you doing?" Hiccup was almost suspicious, looking in between Snotlout and Tuffnut and the two girls.

"We stole some bottles from the Hall. They've been there for years," Snotlout explained in a low voice for many villagers were still walking around. "Some have been hidden for thirty years. Super potent," his smile was almost cracking his face in two.

When Hiccup failed to understand any statement, Tuffnut snorted. "We're going to go _drink_. Come on," he gestured to the far woods over the hills and houses, just through the lower village.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, I can't, you guys, really. Last night was enough." Hiccup checked the lock on the door was secure before storing the ring of keys in his pocket and walking past them.

"Aww, no, Hiccup!" Tuffnut groaned. "We can't without you! It won't be the same."

Hiccup really wondered why they desperately wanted _him _to go drinking with _them._ Sometimes he was skeptical about them inviting him places because of his 'Green Death Slayer' status, or 'badass rogue' who went traveling around rather than actually liking him as a person. It could be hard to tell with Snotlout and Tuffnut because those two were practically attached at the hip like Ruffnut had said. Sometimes they seemed more like twins than the actual twins. Did they want to add Hiccup to their set of hips or something? He couldn't quite figure it out.

"Hiccup!" Tuffnut caught up to him, throwing an arm around his slightly taller set of shoulders. "Astrid'll be there."

Like he had to think about it.

Snotlout and Tuffnut led Hiccup through the dense forest, Agnes and Snaggletooth in tow, parting through giant ferns and jumping over fallen trees. Snotlout was talking to Tuffnut about how excited he was for this thing, and both males looked over at their chosen girls and they started cackling while the two females blushed and rolled their eyes. Hiccup rolled his own eyes and sighed, failing to truly comprehend their antics even after eighteen years of being around them both.

"Oh, woah, you got a haircut," Snotlout said to Hiccup after a few quiet seconds.

"Yep. Sure did," Hiccup ducked under a low hanging branch. "Astrid did it today."

Snotlout and Tuffnut let out a ripple of laughter but not entirely in a mocking sense, but to Hiccup he lines were blurred and he did not see much difference. "Astrid Hofferson cut it?" Agnes asked, smiling. _She_ didn't seem to find it absolutely hilarious. Hiccup nodded kindly at her.

"I wish Astrid would cut my hair," Snotlout said as if it was an afterthought, but only got promptly shoved by Agnes while he was stepping over a log, falling on his face. Hiccup ignored Snotlout's cries of pain while Tuffnut and the two girls laughed, and a surge of pride filled his gut. Astrid cut his hair and Snotlout was jealous. Finally, something to get him ahead after all the years of being overshadowed by Snotlout. _Yes._

Snaggletooth and Agnes led the rest of the way while Snotlout was complaining about the scratches on his forehead now 'contaminated with moss', in his words, while Tuffnut almost fell over himself a few times, laughing his head off. Hiccup dutifully followed, and when he saw a far off speck of orange through the forest fauna he almost pumped a fist in relief. It was not along walk, however, and once they got to the makeshift campsite some of the drinking had already begun.

Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Astrid were already there, as well as some other older people not yet married but still young and some Celts were present. There were two big fires, and one Astrid was sitting at, bottle in hand but still corked, while she talked to Ruffnut next to her. Hiccup hesitantly walked over and sat down on the log a good foot away from Astrid.

"Hiccup's here," Ruffnut said, nudging Astrid with a suggestive smile on her face. Fishlegs next to her was pulled off the log by Snotlout and the five of them went off somewhere else.

"I know. I see," Astrid nodded annoyingly and managed a shy glance at Hiccup through the corner of her eye. He smiled at her, resting his elbows on his knees, the fire illuminating his features quite nicely. Astrid blushed before Ruffnut punched her in the shoulder. "Hey—!"

"If you're gonna hold that bottle, dope, why don't you open it? Time's wasting. Helsplitter's supposed to show up," Ruffnut looked at her expectantly and crossed her arms.

Astrid let out a huff of laughter and shook her head, pushing the cork out with her thumb and letting out a resounding _pop!_ Not one to beat around the bush, Astrid said, "Here goes," and brought the lip of the bottle to her mouth and took a few long gulps.

"Shit! Don't drink all of it!" Ruffnut barked and quickly took the bottle just as Astrid lowered it with a sour look on her face accompanied by a hiss.

"God_damn_, it stings," Astrid sniffed a few times and shook her head.

Ruffnut chugged a few gulps and did much the same face but with a crinkled nose. "Okay, Hiccup, your go," she held the bottle across Astrid to him but he shook his head.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," he laughed awkwardly and when his head shook, his hair swished against his forehead and the flipped-up ends near his neck bobbed cutely. Astrid thought she did a fantastic job at hair-trimming.

"No, you have to Hiccup. We just went. You gotta chug, or I swear to Odin—," Ruffnut said seriously until Astrid interrupted her.

"You have to go, Hiccup," she said with raised brows, acting serious in her eyes but she was smiling and Hiccup melted. She was so pretty when the fire made her eyes flicker and danced shadows across her face.

Hiccup sighed and his shoulders sagged. He was nothing against the force that was Astrid. "Okay, fine. You're great at peer pressure," and he took the bottle and threw his head back and drank it like it was water, his prominent Adam's apple shifting beneath his skin like a fishing bobber. Ruffnut let out a surprised cheer and Astrid raised her brows further when he pulled buck with a scrunched up face. "Oh, _Gods_—agh. There. Got that done with," he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes watering when he handed the bottle back to Astrid.

"Oh, wow, this so much lighter," Astrid shook the bottle around and there was a loud splashing coming form within the clay vessel. The three laughed and passed the bottle around once more.

"Hey, Astrid!" a familiar voice called from the other fire a few yards away. Astrid turned around and Ruffnut and Hiccup followed, seeing Auda stride toward them with slightly miscalculated steps. Astrid groaned and rubbed her face with her free hand, the other holding the bottle. She did not need to see Auda here. "I didn't know you were cool enough to come to these things! _Ha_! Just kidding!" Auda said as she picked up her skirt a little and stepped over the log to sit next to Hiccup, who felt awkward all over again.

"Oh, Gods, you're so funny, Auda," Astrid said sarcastically, and even Hiccup was surprised at her choice of words. He was Sarcasm King.

"I'm just _teasing_. Get drunk, lighten up," Auda nudged Hiccup like he was in on her little joke, but he just averted his eyes and laughed embarrassingly.

Ruffnut didn't have a particular aversion to Auda (and did not understand why Astrid did) but she noticed Astrid did not want her sister there, and felt it was time to back up her friend. "Hey, Auds, maybe you take your own advice and go get wasted somewhere else," Ruffnut said without much malice, and good thing Auda did not take it too seriously; instead, her mouth fell open in happy surprise as she leaned over Hiccup and Astrid's lap, nearly falling off the log. She was completely drunk but was pretty good at hiding it until now, but Astrid knew she was from the start by the way her eyes glistened.

"Auds! Brandan calls me that! He's so sexy when he says it too, especially last night—," her eyes rolled upward in thought, finger poking into her cheek.

"Ew! Auda, get out of here! You're disgusting." Before Astrid could even finish, Auda was up and stumbling away, holding up her dress as she walked through the clearing toward her husband who was calling her. "Ugh, what the Hel," Astrid swiped the bottle from Ruffnut and took a swig.

"You know, she's really not that bad, even when she's not wasted," Ruffnut said, taking the bottle back when she handed it to her.

Astrid scoffed. "You don't even know! She acts like she's the center of everything and always tells me what to do and always says how much I suck at everything, and just—ugh! Shut up!" her hands were taut after shaking them around.

"You don't suck at _anything_," Ruffnut pointed out calmly, taking a sip.

"I know, but she always has something to say and it gets really annoying!"

"She's your sister, dude," Ruffnut said slowly, her eyes half lidded. "She's supposed to be annoying." Ruffnut does have a high tolerance, but this ale was so thoroughly fermented it was like drinking ten ale mugs when only taking four gulps. Even Astrid was starting to feel a bit hazy.

"I know! Shut up! I don't want to hear it right now," Astrid swiftly stood up and swiped the bottle from Ruffnut, taking Hiccup's hand and walking away from the fire.

"Hey! Astrid! Give that back!" Ruffnut called after them angrily, getting up to go after then but she tripped over the log. She pulled herself up quickly enough but Astrid was already pulling Hiccup along through the pods of people and she lost them.

"She's pretty mad," Hiccup said after much thought, feeling his legs go a little wobbly.

"I don't care. I need to get drunk," Astrid said over the laughing voices. She grabbed a bottle from somebody who was going to drop it, letting go of Hiccup's wrist. She shoved the bottle she, Ruffnut and Hiccup had drank from, a little more than halfway empty, into Hiccup's hand and continued dragging him behind her into the forest.

"Hey, the fire's that way…," Hiccup clumsily looked over his shoulder, resisting Astrid's hold a bit more than she liked. She yanked his arm and stomped a few yards where there was a large pond with a tiny waterfall, much like the cove Hiccup would have met Toothless at. She sat down at the edge of a small overhang, dangling her feet over and eagerly taking a few swigs.

Hiccup quietly sat down beside her, holding the bottle between his knees, and watched some other kids cannonball into the waterhole. "Oh, hey, I remember swimming here all the time," Hiccup said with a smile. "Remember when 'Legs snapped the swinging rope and belly-flopped? You were there, right? It was so funny," Hiccup chuckled to himself and absentmindedly took a sip. He couldn't even taste the alcohol anymore.

"Yep," Astrid said after bringing the bottle away from her mouth, smacking her lips. "Ruff almost convinced me to go skinny dipping here one time but Aislin caught me sneaking out of the house," Astrid said, watching a few more kids splash each other. "I wanted to do it, though. I'm going to go skinny dipping sometime, and…," Astrid failed to finish her sentence, swirling the bottle around and swinging her legs. Hiccup was not paying attention anyway. When Astrid mentioned 'skinny dipping', immediately thoughts of Astrid naked popped up in his drunken mind. They kept flowing like a slideshow, and then he vaguely heard her say, 'wanted to do it', and rather dirty images blossomed. He blushed even at the thought of them. But, there was always the nagging thought of respect influencing him even now, and Hiccup took another sip to stop thinking dirty thought. Like that would help, but he really thought it would.

It was quiet between the two except for the shrill laughter and shouts and splashes bouncing off the high stone walls surrounding the pond so it really was not quiet at all. Hiccup was thinking in his own world he always seemed to find himself in, tapping his prosthetic lightly on a rock beneath him, trying to figure out how to refocus his eyes. Equations to the inventions he was ridiculously coming up with to make his eyes settle were racing and rebounding through his head, and then he remembered he was drunk. He started laughing for now apparent reason at all, holding his face in his hand, and Astrid swiveled her head around to look at him like he sprouted two heads. No, wait, he does have two heads….

"What?" Astrid said, watching his dual heads move as he did. Was she seeing three Hiccups or two? It looked like two. _Cool_, she thought, hardly noticing her mouth was hanging open.

"I'm so _drunk_," Hiccup said with a ridiculous laugh outlining his words. He almost sounded like Tuffnut.

"You're drunk?" Astrid said the first words that came into her bleary mind.

"You're turning me onto alcohol, Astrid," he raised an eyebrow and threw his head back to take another swig.

"Oh, I'm turning you on? Well, thanks," Astrid teased, leaning back onto her palm. Hiccup rolled his eyes and bent forward to put his elbows on his knees. Astrid was seriously wondering why she wasn't just making out with him right now. He was so _cute_. And those arms, sweet Freyja, were about half the size of Snotlout's but looked even better. And for some reason, his shoulder blades looked really appealing under his tunic. And his _hair_, oh, she did such a good job. His new haircut matched perfectly with the stubble he had blooming on his jaw, extending down his neck a little ways. When did Hiccup get so _hot_? She could just do so many things to him right now, and—she was drunk. No. _Relax yourself, you're not a slut. Let's not turn into a second Auda, here_, Astrid thought, sighing. Of course her perception of her sister was skewed, as was mostly everything concerning her sister, but she was surprised she had so much self control. Maybe it was the vibe Hiccup was giving off because he seemed particularly calm.

Hiccup would have _loved_ to have replied to Astrid with a triumphant 'Yes!', but, alas, he did not. Hiccup was nothing if not respectful (to some extent), and he had an absurd and copious amounts of respect for Astrid. He was a good boy, and not sucking face with some random girl who-was-named-Agnes against a rock like his cousin was doing right now by the waterhole. Snotlout was the son Stoick wanted, but Hiccup made up for it by his logic and reasoning _and _his brains, unlike Snotlout who did things without thinking about the consequences. Snotlout could be smart too, but his lack of Thinking Things Through overshadowed much of it, as Hiccup faintly remembered hearing Spitelout say about his son.

Reflecting on everything, Hiccup was genuinely surprised so much has changed. Wait. Reflecting? Why was he doing that? "Hey, Astrid?" Hiccup said slowly, keeping his eyes on the shimmering water a couple feet below him.

"Yeah?" Astrid had her face up to the sky, looking at the high trees above her and the leaves shaking in the gentle breeze, and then the stars past that.

"Are we friends? Or do you guys just hang out with me because I defeated the Green Death?" his words were slow and were beginning to slip together like soap bubble converging.

Astrid stuck out her lower lip in thought, bringing her head back down to the earth again. "Yeah. No—I mean, yeah, we're friends with you. All of us. _I'm _friend with you, if… if you wanna be friends with me…," Ugh! Why did she say that? It sounded like she was weak and stupid and naïve and dumb. She sounded like she wanted him to say it so she could reassure herself, implying it all lamely like that. Astrid was about to jump to amend her words but Hiccup spoke first.

"No, I've always wanted to be friends with you," he said when he turned to look at her, still hunched over. His vivid green eyes were glistening from inebriation and his mouth didn't seem to be moving along with his words.

It went so quick. First, Astrid's heart seemed to pump a hundred times faster, heat rising to her already hot cheeks, and then she found herself kissing him. She leaned in so quickly that she miscalculated the distance between them, shoving her mouth onto his and making their teeth clash—for the second time. She tasted alcohol on his lips but his lips were softer than she remembered. Hiccup jolted, almost jumping back in shock but realization hit him and he swore excitedly in his head as he kissed her back.

When Astrid moved her lips to continue kissing him, Hiccup was still as stone. Okay, the kid sucked. She wanted to punch him to get him moving but decided it would be much more fun to teach him. She pushed his lips open and he closed his mouth in sync with hers, his lips curling in that perfect way. A little push of her head and he repeated again once more until his hand somehow found her knee and sent static whizzing up her body. She felt a pleasing jolt run through her and decided it was time to introduce her tongue. Hiccup gasped and Astrid burst out laughing, her head falling into his shoulder.

"Tongue?" Hiccup laughed along, the smell of strawberries and rosewater filling his nose, her hair tickling his cheek along with it.

"Yeah! You use your tongue sometimes when kissing," Astrid pulled back and sat up, still giggling.

"I didn't know you used tongue…."

"Okay, you're way drunk."

He guffawed, feeling a warm flower sprouting in his stomach and extending to his head. A _flower_? Oh, Gods. "Yep, yep, III'm pretty drunk."

Astrid cackled almost maniacally at that, throwing herself to lay down on the grass behind her. Hiccup hazily watched her go, whispering a faint 'woah' in shock as she kicked her legs around some. "Oh, shit! Aw, damn it!" Astrid said with remnants of a laugh as she sat up, pointing to growing wet spot on her thigh. "I spilled…."

Hiccup burst out laughing in spite, clutching his stomach. "_Who's_ drunk? _You're_ drunk," he pointed accusingly at her, grinning widely and stupidly.

"No, _you're_ drunk," Astrid replied, forgetting about the wet spot and continuing to drink from the clay bottle.

"Nuh uh. You're drunker."

"_You're_ drunker."

"That's not even a word!"

"You just said it!"

"_You_ just said it!"

"Hiccup!" she threw a swift punch at his shoulder, though with half the strength she would have had if she were sober. "Shut up! You're _hammered_," she meant to be threatening, but it was hard to maintain that scariness when everything was spinning and she kept laughing.

Hiccup laughed like a dork. "Hammered? That's like a hammer… that smashes things. Heh, we're hammered. We're smashed."

Astrid raised her brows almost in realization. "We're smashed…."

"We're smashed!" Hiccup shouted loudly, his voice bouncing off the walls of stone surrounding them, echoing as if it were a canyon. Astrid giggled in delight and fizzy bubbles sprouted in her stomach.

"Shut up!" one voice called back.

"The adults are coming!" another one said.

Astrid abruptly stopped laughing when it registered in her mind fifteen seconds later, swinging her head to face Hiccup with a bleary, serious expression on her face. Hiccup's face fell and he stared back at Astrid, mouth hanging open as his words connected together to form sentences.

But, the only word to come out of his mouth was, "Shit."

"We gotta go," Astrid said but did not move.

"The adults are coming," Hiccup almost whispered, repeating what he heard.

Astrid started to chuckle deeply in her throat and it slowly burst forth like swinging gates. "Your eyes! Oh, Gods, Hiccup, your eyes!"

"Come on!" Hiccup stood up quickly, finding it hard to gain his balance especially with one foot and a thin peg leg. "Gimme your hand."

"Your eyes, Hiccup, they're so fuzzy," she said and gave him her hand and he pulled her up with surprising strength. "Woah!" she giggled and mashed her nose into his collarbone.

Very wobbly and shakily, Hiccup led Astrid into the forest, still holding her hand and pulling her behind him. Astrid again remembered what was going on and forgot about his 'fuzzy eyes' and dutifully followed him. Together they still laughed, quietly, in snorting noises, as others were also racing into the forest to leave the site and the wrath of Stoick the Vast because he was surely to come. Hiccup, however, paid no mind to it and instead focused what proper logic he had on trying to figure out the best way home. Astrid was whispering things to him behind him but he did not really hear, letting go of her hand and ducking around a large pine tree, the blonde Viking following him like a quiet doe despite her apparent inebriation.

He was quickly sobering up. Fear began to overtake him and Astrid constantly whispering right now did not help. "Shh!"

"Hey! Don't tell me to 'shh'!" she snapped just as fiercely in a harsh whisper, crouching in front of Hiccup behind a fern. "I was just saying we need to go around this tree and it's Ruffnut's backyard."

Hiccup's mouth fell open. "Really?" he honestly couldn't see straight, but if he could, he might have figured that out.

"Yeah, idiot."

"Oh, crap! What about Ruff? Do you think she made it? Or Tuffnut or Snotlout? Fishlegs? What if they get caught?"

"Don't worry about them. If any of them get caught, it's their own damn fault," Astrid said quietly as she parted some fern leaves, seeing some torches through some bushes up ahead and a line of people. "Come on, they're going past us," She stood up but kept bending halfway over, walking barefoot on dead leaves and twigs but making hardly a sound. Sometimes she started falling sideways between darting among the trees but she was graceful as a Viking huntress would be. Hiccup was amazed and intrigued at her stealth and skill, never more aware of his prosthetic than now, clunking and squeaking behind her. It needed some more oil, he decided, and resolved to get to it tomorrow.

Circling around a patch of big rocks and fat trees, the backyard of the Thorston's greeted a very much relieved Hiccup. "Oh, thank Gods," he said and sighed.

Astrid turned around and faced him, looking awfully timid and unsure. She pulled her braid over her shoulder and began messing with it like she had earlier that day at the forge. She looked so elegant despite being _Astrid_, who was not actually elegant at all, but Hiccup always admired the way that she held herself, and that was mostly the essence of elegance (in the Viking culture). He looked down at her standing a good two feet away, and even from where he was he could see her blush.

"Thanks," she said, punching his shoulder lightly and smirking. Astrid took his bottle and emptied it, tossing it into the forest where she left hers trying to get Hiccup's attention, but that was not what she was thanking him for.

"For what?" Hiccup's voice was still low and kinda slurry, making his fingers dance at his sides.

"I-I don't know… I just thought I should thank you," she said, her eyes flicking across his face.

"For kissing you?"

"I guess."

"Oh," What was he supposed to say? 'You're welcome' sounded like he paid her or something and that was not the case at all. He looked down to the foot that stuck out from under him. What he supposed to do now? Hiccup did not know how these things worked. "I'll walk you home?"

"Oh… okay… sure," Astrid smiled and started walking around the Thorston's house, Hiccup coming next to her once they reached the road.

Astrid's house was only the next block over so it was not a far distance, but it was peaceful compared to five minutes ago when they were laughing their heads off. Running through the forest away form frightening parents certainly sobered one up. The streets were quiet except for a few kids still running home who made it form the swimming hole, and most of the houses were dark except for a few lights on here and there.

Once at Astrid's house, she stood on the step in front of Hiccup, now eye level with him, her long rope of hair still hung over her shoulder. Hiccup scratched the back of his head and looked up to what he remembered to be Astrid's window. "So, uhm… goodnight? Is that what I'm supposed to say?" he let out a huff of nervous laughter and Astrid couldn't stop the curl of happiness unfurling in her stomach.

"Yep. And you're supposed to kiss me now. That's how this goes," What 'this' was, Astrid wasn't quite sure, but the meaning was unspoken for and Hiccup understood. Astrid was not much for childish romantic stories but Aislin used to have them in stockpiles and she would read them to Astrid when she was younger. Aislin was the only Hofferson other than Arnheim who was mostly literate, so she read books all the time and so Astrid was pretty much forced to listen. But, those fairytales and the typical romance type of thing seemed to all make sense now that Hiccup was here.

"Okay," he whispered and leaned in. His kiss was light and chaste, innocent, but it sent the exact opposite flowing through Astrid. She wanted to kiss him so hard and eagerly but found herself unable to, and decided that that could be for another time. Hiccup sent her head spinning and her knees wobbling without the influence of alcohol, even. When he pulled back with a shy smile and a blush creeping across the freckled bridge of his nose, Astrid still felt his lips on hers.

She blinked once and smiled almost deliriously. "You're so dumb," she said quietly and only inches away from his face. Hiccup's eyes were wild and half-lidded, looking all over her flawless face. He smiled and Astrid stepped up onto her porch and quietly twisted the handle to open the door. "Goodnight," she whispered over her shoulder and then disappeared into the darkness of her house.

Hiccup continued to stand motionless on the grass just at the foot of the Hofferson's front porch, hands still in his pockets. It felt like a dream, but he kissed Astrid Hofferson. He actually did. He did. He did it.

He walked back home with a grand and clumsy smile on his face.

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(3) The Edda was written in the 13th century in Iceland and is the basic source of tradition, but parts of it, from what I gather, were written in the Viking Age as well, which is what I generally set this story in, around 12th century, like 1090. The Eddur are so, so confusing. I'm trying to read the Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, which is part of the prose Edda, and I have to Wikipedia, like, everything.

Thank you for reading! I know it was a haul, but it's one of my favorite chapters yet, so I hope you think so, too! Finally some kissy action, GEEEEZ. 'bout goddamn time. It's only the beginning, muwahaha.

**Ordgar: Thanks, dude! I'm really glad you like it so far! And no, the Vikings did not _have_ vodka because it's a Russian drink, but I can imagine them finding it somewhere in Sweden, maybe, near Russia where they might have got their hands on it, or England, where they get a lot more imports than the Vikings on Berk do. Raiders and marauders get crap from all over the place. I can't be sure if they actually came into contact with vodka, but it would be fun if they did :)**

**memyselfandI: Thank you, dear! :D  
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	6. Chapter 5

Welcome to family dynamics.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Five

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"Astrid, wake up," a lazy, groggy voice spoke, shaking her shoulder with a beginning yawn. Through her eyelids, Astrid was slapped rather rudely by the late morning sun shining through her window. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets along with her.

"Five more minutes," Astrid's voice was muffled in her pillow as she spoke, looking quite comfortable.

"No. Mom needs you up now. You need to go to the seamstress," Auda was equally exhausted, having just woken up herself with a raging hangover, headache and all.

"Oh, shit," Astrid rolled back over and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Auda would have laughed at her sister's hair, being as frazzled as it was, but her hair was much the same, not yet braided and wound up in her newly adopted married woman's hairstyle. And, also because she was feeling like shit and looking grimly upon the remaining day that would soon be occupied by housework.

"Mom heard us come in last night," Auda said as she rubbed her temples.

Astrid scoffed. "Heard _you _come in. You were drunk off your ass. _I _came in quietly," she lifted the covers and swung her legs out into the warm air, standing up to stretch backwards in her thigh-length chemise.

"Don't _be _like that, Astrid," Auda said a bit louder than expected, thoroughly irritated. "Whenever I try to be nice to you, you always have to be such a hag."

"How was that being nice?" Astrid retorted with a sour look on her face. She walked over to her dresser to pick up her brush to untangle the mess that was her hair.

Auda heavily sighed, sitting down on Astrid's bed. "I just… I don't know why you're so angry with me all the time. I want to be nice, but it's so hard with you! Can't you tell me?"

Astrid thought, looking at herself in the looking glass, then to Auda, and then back again. She vaguely remembered Ruffnut asking the same question last night, and she remembered answering with an equally vague and lame excuse that made only partial sense. Astrid really wasn't quite sure why Auda was so bothersome to her, she really doesn't do anything; it has been mostly Astrid that has started things since Auda got home...

Grinding her teeth, Astrid set the brush down with frustration bubbling in her throat. "I'm _sorry. _It's just that you've been gone for four years and then you come back bragging about everything and rubbing it in my face—it just got on my nerves! I mean, you come back and act like everything's normal! It isn't normal! You and Brandan are living here, dad's being somewhat reasonable, and mom's relaxed and it's just… it's just…," Astrid hated stumbling for words because she thought she sounded stupid. "annoying!"

She wasn't about to go on and tell Auda how she actually felt about her return. Though Astrid loved Auda like any sister would, the feelings of inferiority and feeling unable to prove her worth in the overwhelming shadows Auda caused were much too deep to pull out so soon. She would have to excavate those feelings over time because, one, feelings sucked, and two, she was too embarrassed. Why would Astrid Hofferson think she was in any way inferior?

In the four years Auda was gone, Astrid built up her reputation with lightning speed and with as much ambition as a king, but even more so. Astrid was valiant and proud, so succumbing to such lowliness and vulnerability felt like throwing away her axe and shield at a charging enemy. It was too much to risk.

Auda looked at her sister with furrowed brows as Astrid looked at her intently, waiting for her to answer. Auda sighed and rubbed her forehead, coming to stand up. "I'm sorry. I really don't try to do that," Astrid bit her lip and nodded. "I'm just so glad I'm home, Diddy, with mom and Arnheim and now I'm married to Brandan… It's not normal for me either," she offered a tired smile, gripping Astrid's shoulders, standing half a head taller than her. "So just be patient with me, will ya? I'm not quite used to Berk yet—I've still got a Dublin accent!" this prompted both girls to laugh, if both a bit weary.

"Okay. And yes, your accent's horrible," Astrid smiled at her sister, so relieved this roadblock got out of the way. Auda grinned and pulled her in for a brief hug, then let her go just as quickly.

"Alright. Now get ready and go. Hallbera won't be pleased, mom said, if you're late."

"Yeah. Right," Astrid sighed and went back to pulling the brush through her hair as Auda walked out and closed the door behind her. After a few minutes of painful yanking and a few rats' nests, Astrid plaited her hair quickly and tied it with a spare leather string. She ran out her door and to the end of the short hall to the steep staircase that led up to the attic. She found the chest of summer clothes that all three girls had compiled over the years and hauled down the steps and back to her room. Throwing the chest on the floor, she went to her knees and flipped the top cover off and rifled for the tunic she wanted to wear. It was a short dress, about to the middle of her thighs, a couple of inches above her knees, with a deep green trim with pretty gold swirls. This dress was soft, tan linen, and was one of the few garments she got herself. It wasn't a hand-me-down, but an article of clothing she rightfully bought with her own money not three years ago. She prided herself on it, and she was also pleased it still fit her.

She threw the dress on after removing her chemise and tied a belt around herself. As she turned around, she caught herself in the looking glass, noticing how bare her collarbone looked with the wide neck the dress possessed; it could have slipped off her shoulders if it didn't fit so snugly. Furrowing her brows, she pursed her lips and traced her fingers over her pale collarbone, noticing the soft skin and the goose pimples that arose because she almost tickled herself.

"Freya, that looks bad," Astrid muttered, pulling her braid over her shoulder and untying the leather string. Astrid usually could give a damn about her appearance, but something was telling her to let her hair down because it looked best that way during summer. And, personally, she thought her hair was one of the prettier things she possessed, so she thought Hiccup would too.

"What does he care anyway?" she told herself, but she knew it was a lie. She knew she felt pretty when Hiccup looked at her, even for a split second, so on impulse she shook her hair loose and let it go as it was. She put on her gold coin fillet and adjusted it over her hair and under her sheet of bangs before walking out her bedroom door and down the stairs.

"Auda, I want you to shake out all the rugs, blankets, furs, pillows—everything—outside't. Then, you're going to dust this room and sweep in every godforsaken corner you find. It needs to be spotless," Astrid heard her mother say as she came into the front room where the benches were set up, or the 'sitting area', as Ingrid called it, but Astrid didn't care. Ingrid turned when she saw her daughter descend the stairs. "And, you, Astrid, are going to Hallbera's until whenever she sends you home. I asked her to send you around mid-afternoon, though, so you can help me with the laundry. Because of yesterday, we didn't get to Laugardagur, so we need to do a lot of the laundry today. When you get home, you will get everyone's bed sheets and I'll gather dirty clothes and we'll go. But go, quickly, Astrid. Hallbera isn't a patient woman," Ingrid shooed her off and turned back to Auda to finish giving her the game plan.

Astrid inwardly and silently groaned as she walked to the front door; she hated doing laundry. She didn't even bother putting on her boots because she knew it was going to be hot and sweaty feet were gross, and besides, they needed to callous up anyway. The sun was so bright outside she had to shield her eyes.

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Hiccup started work at the forge the next day with a dull headache but with a cheery smile that split his face in half despite his mild hangover. Gobber arrived early while the mist was still fading, and when Hiccup walked in he gave his apprentice-who-wasn't-really-an-apprentice-anymore a funny look and a scoff of bemusement.

Stoking the fire while Hiccup tied on his apron, Gobber said, "What's got yer face all bright an' good willin'?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Nothing."

"Well, it's gotta be somthin'. I 'ave never seen yeh grin as stupidly as tha'," Gobber tossed on some coals and threw in more wood as Hiccup walked over to his shrinking pile of weapons needing to be mended still. Hiccup laughed in retort, pulling out a sword bent in several directions, turning it side to side to inspect it.

"You don't know what I'm smiling about, and frankly, it's none of your business," Hiccup set the mangled sword on the counter and crouched to dig into the pile for some spears or longswords or anything like that. Hiccup wanted to finish the easier weapons first to save the hammers and maces and sickles for last.

"Ohh, I see," Gobber nodded with a hearty laugh and an accompanying nod, taking the weapons Hiccup handed him over his shoulder to place on the bed of coals. "Somethin' wit'a geel then, eh?"

Hiccup flushed, but with his back to Gobber he wasn't concerned about it. "Nope," he grunted as she heaved a very heavy hammer off the pile to access the crushed weaponry underneath. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Who wouldn't? Yeh've bin hangin' 'round tha' Hofferson lass quite a bit, haven't yeh? Word is, yeh got 'er a few _geefs_."

Hiccup just about jumped through the ceiling. When Hiccup didn't immediately reply, Gobber knew he hit home, but Hiccup still tried to thwart Gobber's accusations even though he knew it would be useless. "What 'gifts'? Girls don't like 'gifts', Gobber, everyone knows. Especially a girl like Astrid,"

Gobber chuckled. "Oh, lad, yeh don' know _nohthing _about geels."

"I know enough!" Hiccup calmly and fiercely replied, putting on some gloves to sharpen a few swords left from yesterday.

"Oh, righ', yeh knoow ev'rything."

"I never said that. I just said Astrid doesn't like 'geefs'," Hiccup said in a perfect replication of Gobber, even making a face similar to what his represented with squinted eyes and a taunting sneer.

"The lassie's mother said somethin' thee other day aboot some necklace. Apparrently, it's Spooknoose scales. O' so I've heard," Gobber raised one side of his line of brows, and shrugged with a hidden smirk behind his mustache. He knew Hiccup too well.

"Barnacle-backed Spooknoose scales," Just as soon as it left his mouth, Hiccup mentally smacked himself. _Idiot!_ He knew he should have admitted it because Gobber caught him red-handed, but men around Berk didn't just dish out necklaces willy-nilly to any girl. Still as stubborn as a horse, Hiccup set his mouth in the characteristic straight line he had while Gobber laughed at him in victory. "What does it matter anyway? I gave her a necklace, no big deal. Laugh all you want."

Gobber waved him off and grumbled some things that made himself laugh and pumped the bellows. "Ohh, naow, don' git yer undies in a bunch, I'm jus' teasin'. I still remember thee day ye first walked in here and almost burnt yar face off."

Hiccup furrowed his brows, not finding much sense or point in Gobber's comment, but remembered the day quite clearly. He was opening the iron doors to the fire to put more wood on as Gobber asked, and he didn't know about the hot rush of air that would swipe him in the face, and to make things simple, he was lacking one and a half eyebrows for a few weeks. He chuckled at the thought, sliding the sword along the revolving stone, pumping the pedal to keep it going. "And you won't forget this, will you?"

"Yeh knoow me too well, lad," Gobber shook his head, pushing the bellow handle like it was nothing. "But tha' reminds me—I gotta tell yeh somethin'. Soh, since yeh've taken over much o' thuh shop duties as more o' an employee than an apprentice, an old friend of meen asked if I could train in another apprentice," Gobber explained as he stoked some of the coals, many of them already red. "Soo, I agreed. The lad'll be comin' in tomorr'a and it'll be a joint effort buh-tween you and me to teach 'im."

Hiccup raised his eyebrows but he really should not have been surprised. Gobber talked about bringing in another apprentice for years but he hadn't been able to find one, or had not received any outstanding requests. "Who is it?"

"Oh, Hoark's son. Dagger, or somethin' like tha'," Gobber replied, taking a red-hot sword and bringing it to the anvil to whack at with his replaceable hammer attached to this left arm. As the sound of metal hammering reverberated throughout the stall, Hiccup fell into a deep thought that consumed his mind most hours of the day. Even as Gobber talked, his 'thought mode' did not cease. He thought a lot, especially when he was alone, or mostly alone. Thoughts about having an apprentice around rattled his brain, thinking about what it would be like.

He wasn't sure how he felt about it. A part of him was exceedingly excited because he was finally able to teach someone what he learned and they were actually going to have to listen to him, but the other half of him was nervous. The new apprentice would be about the age when Hiccup started, about ten, and children made Hiccup skittish. Being an only child for the whole of his life and living a good portion of it alone, he left all his childhood tendencies behind many, many years ago (granted he still acted like a thirteen-year-old at times). There were plenty of children around Berk but Hiccup hardly talked to any of them unless they were asking him questions about dragons or begging him to ride Toothless, and even then he escaped quickly. He simply didn't know what to think or say around them. They were so unpredictable and loud and obnoxious…

And now, having to teach a young boy who was most likely just as rambunctious and bouncy and cocky just like every other young male on Berk, it was understandable why Hiccup's stomach almost dropped to the floor. Now he had to be around a kid when he usually avoided them. He wasn't really looking forward to it.

00

Walking up to Hallbera's stall in the center of the market in the town square, Astrid saw hanging garments for both men and women hanging inside and out of the stall; trousers, chemises, stockings, tunics, dresses, shawls, scarves, but most hanging out were summer wear, and all of them expertly crafted. Hallbera seemed to find a way to keep up-to-date on the latest fashions somehow, even on a tiny island like Berk (granted it got a lot of foreign visitors), and the stall was bursting with everything new. Since finding out new dyes and inspirations of colors from the dragons a year or two ago, much of the clothing on Berk gained some light and looked brighter rather than the neutral tones that usually revolved around brown or green. The older inhabitants and those who stuck hard to tradition still wore the clothes they always have, but without the constant threat of dragon raids, body armor was reserved for combat and were replaced with much comfier clothing (except those damn bodices and corsets!). The stall was also filled with splashes of color Astrid had not ever seen on clothing before. Walking inside, her mouth fell a little bit.

Everything was so _pretty._ Perfect hems, impeccable designs, gorgeous and soft cloth—why had she not come here before? Oh, right, she hated dresses, especially long ones, but they were becoming so fashionable and _pretty_. Astrid ran her hands down a light green dress, shocked at the softness of it, and so much so she accidentally gasped. Quickly, she covered her mouth and blushed; when had she become so enthralled by dresses? They were so… _girly_. When she made Auda's? No, she only made it because Auda loved the color yellow _and _dresses (yuck!), not because she, _Astrid_, liked them. Dresses were for pansies. She would wear shorter 'dresses' like she one she was wearing that resembled more of a tunic and skirts that-were-not-long like her spiked armor that did not fit her anymore and that she was missing already, but not… _dresses. _

"Oh, Astrid! Decided to show up, huh?" Hallbera said with a joke in her voice from behind a counter. She had not heard Hallbera rummaging behind it when she walked in, too engrossed by the sheer amount of color. Astrid had never seen so much color other than the field of flowers higher up on the mountains behind her house that looked over the village.

"It's noon, isn't it?" Astrid asked while walking around a display table where a few women were picking out undergarments for their husbands. Astrid snorted and rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself. She continued walking toward the counter, her head raised to see the clothes hanging higher up on the wall. _Ooh, _there was a pretty blue one like the color of her Nadder with white flowers around the sleeve.

"Yep, you're just in tyme. Come, lass, follow me," Hallbera stood up straight and set a crate on the counter. She dusted herself off and picked up the crate in her arms and walked to a doorway behind the counter that had parted curtains, held up by shabby rope, leading to the back. Astrid followed, still looking all around at all the colorful garments before disappearing into the back of the stall.

There was a wall right after the doorway that Astrid almost walked into, meant to keep customers from peering into the back, but after turning a sharp corner, it was nothing like Astrid had expected.

It was a total _mess. _

There were rolls of cloth all over the place, stacked in piles on the floor, hung over chairs, thrown on tables in haphazard piles. There were long strips of trim in wide lines all over, in complicated knots and twirled around chair legs. Wooden busts stood on stands with half-developed dresses hung on them, some falling apart only to be held together by thin thread. There was a thread spinner in the corner that looked like it had not been used in ages, wool still in the basket, yellowed and brown. There were two other women working, standing around the table, drawing out designs with thin charcoal sticks on yards of cloth, and when Hallbera and Astrid entered the messy room they turned their heads.

"Ah, the new girl, eh, Hallbera?" The older looking one said, smiling at Astrid but did not give her any other recognition, and in fact, her eyes seemed indifferent. Astrid recognized her from a while ago when she returned from mangling her Favorite Tree with her axe and this lady was talking to her mother at the kitchen table with tea. But otherwise, she did not know her name at all, and she thought it was rather rude of her to call Astrid the 'new girl'. That always had bad connotations to it.

"My new apprentice, Ranka, and yours as well," Hallbera replied with a hard, stern easiness Astrid could only admire. She walked up to the table and set the crate filled with whatever it was on the counter and the other girl reached for it and pulled it over.

Astrid watched as she shifted through the contents, pulling out swatches and scraps of cloth and various sewing tools, finally pulling out a strip of decorated cloth that she held to inspect. "How do you think this'll go, Hal? Does it clash?" She held the strip to the large sheet she had splayed on the table across from Ranka and held them both up for Hallbera to see.

"Aren't you going to say hello? How rude!" Hallbera said with a laugh but it was obvious she was being entirely serious, hands on her hips and a light scolding look on her freckled face.

"Hi," the girl said offhandedly like she did not care much, saying it with a snooty tone Astrid did not appreciate one bit. Hallbera punched her lightly in the arm and she winced; Hallbera was definitely a Viking woman. Astrid loved her already. "I'm Stinkeye, Stink for short," she finished shortly and threw the scrap of cloth back into the crate and rummaged around for another swatch.

"Astrid," Astrid said, raising an awkward hand as a hello, then lowered it to her other hand to hold and wring around. She felt entirely out of place. She was never good with introductions around girls; with boys it was a different thing, usually something to do with shoving someone's face in the dirt. She still couldn't believe she was an apprentice to the most popular seamstress on the island without even realizing.

"Aw'right, geet ova here, geel," Hallbera said in an overly dramatized accent, waving her over. Astrid took two steps and immediately she felt a pin stab into the ball of her foot. _Goddamn… bad idea not to wear shoes_, she thought, lifting her foot up and brushing the pin off.

"Oh, yes, you always want to wear shoes coming back here. Stink spilt a bin of needles and Thor knows where they are. Bring that pin over," Hallbera said and crouched, reaching under the table and pulled out a bolt of deep green cloth, standing up to heave it onto the table with a grunt. The thing didn't look heavy but it must have been for a strong semi-bulky woman like Hallbera to grunt about it, Astrid decided. She came over to stand next to Hallbera, watching every footfall, and saw a bowl of pins on the table, so she put the one that embarrassed her in the bowl—how dare a measly pin hurt her foot. Aislin slashed her with a sword on her thigh once while they were sparring and she barely winced.

"Okay," Hallbera said, putting her fists on her hips where her bodice ended and the cinched cloth began, making her hips look wider than they were. "I want you to make four exact copies of that dress you made for Auda. I've got this green out to git ya started, and the rest of the bolts are in that closet over there," she pointed to a doorway on the other side of the room, then brushed her deep red bangs out of her eyes. "You've got until the end of tha harvest in three months. Make those and you'll be parmenent."

"Okay," Astrid said offhandedly, already thinking about how she was going to make this work. It took her about three months to make Auda's one dress, and now she had to make four in three months. Twelve weeks in three months… four dresses… so that's, what, three weeks for each dress? _Shouldn't be _too _hard…. _

Before she knew it, Astrid was clearing a table away from the cluttered one Ranka and Stink occupied, chatting away, and hauled over the bolt of cloth over like it was a sack of rocks. "Gods—," she grunted as she set it down with a table-shaking bang that make a pair of scissors jump. She unrolled it and reached for a flexible tape measure by the scissors and immediately started etching out lines with broken charcoal pencils on the fabric, all measurements from memory. It only took her three months to complete Auda's dress because she messed up about five times on each of the measuring bits because Astrid was terrible at math, and once she did something, she rarely ever forgot it. It was much like a sequence of attack moves or a mutton recipe; each step counted and each one is important.

Astrid hardly uttered two words for the next four hours, too caught up in making little snips and cutting lines, drawing them, pinning brief sections together and setting them aside. She almost jumped when Hallbera came up behind her to tap her shoulder. "Tyme for you to do ye laundry. Ingrid wanted you home twenty minutes ago but you looked too focused to disrupt," She let out a hearty chuckle and Astrid noticed she had shockingly green eyes in the light she was in.

Astrid smiled weakly; she could be a bit intense at working. "Is there at time you want me back tomorrow?" she asked, folding up large swatches of the green fabric and setting them neatly on the table. _Neat. _

She shrugged. "Up to you. Whenever you want to get those dresses done."

"When I wake up, then," Astrid smiled and Hallbera let out a bark of laughter.

"I like commitment. Maybe you'll be useful, after all," she said as she walked away, winking. Astrid knew Hallbera since the day she was born but had not had a lot of contact with her. Ingrid and Hallbera were friends, but not like they used to be, apparently, from stories she's picked up over the years and piecing them together.

Hallbera, Stinkeye and Ranka continued working behind her as Astrid tidied up her newly-claimed workspace, making sure everything had its place before tip-toeing through the mess on the floor. "See you tomorrow!" Astrid called over her shoulder, walking toward the door leading to the front of the shop.

"Bye, Astrid," All three women said in unison before she disappeared behind the privacy wall. Leaving through the shop she was still amazed by all the colors she saw, admiring each one like they were all different scales from a dragon, each possessing their own spunk and personality. Then, she remembered with a groan, that she forgot to feed Spike in the morning because she was so caught up with getting to Hallbera's. _Spike's gonna be pissed_, she thought, shaking her head and beginning a light jog to save time. She decided to feed her dragon before going to do laundry when her hands would get white and fleshy and wrinkled as pickled plums.

Astrid crept around the back of her house, ducking below windows to avoid being seen from inside, and went to the cellar doors to get a fish basket. Auda and Brandan had received almost twenty-five fish baskets filled with cod, herring, eel, haddock, and even a few shellfish for their wedding from their family yesterday, so the whole cellar was filled with the rank smell of fish. It was so thick Astrid almost gagged simply when she opened the doors, stumbling backwards like a gust of wind hit her in the face. It wasn't the smell of rotting fish, just the pure fishy smell collected in nearly high toxic amounts, it seemed, mixed with soaking ludefisk, fermenting vegetables and shoulders of pig and cow along with scores of dried and salted meats.

Before she could think too much of it to scare herself off, she clambered down the wooden steps, covering her mouth and nose with her hand and a strip of her hair and grabbed the nearest basket by the woven wicker handle. She hauled it up the steps with some difficulty, even having to resort to removing her hand and holding her breath to make it to fresh air. Once outside in the beauty of the world again, she heaved a giant sigh of relief, sitting on the lid of the basket with her hands on her knees.

"You're so dramatic," said Auda from behind the chicken wire fence, scattering chicken feed with a blue cloth tied around her head. She smiled and brushed her hands together when she emptied the basket, walking out of the circle of white and brown squabbling and pecking chickens to grab the broom leaning against house.

"I am not," Astrid replied back, standing up and picking up the basket by the handles and waddling the distance to the ex-pig barn where Spike was probably taking her afternoon nap. She remembered when they had pigs years back. She could hear them honking and whining at night when they were not sleeping, and she hated cleaning up after them because they were so messy. She thanked the gods every time she went into the chicken coop to collect eggs because the Hoffersons now only took care of chickens while their neighbors took care of pigs. They would always trade eggs or dead chickens for a few pounds of pork every few weeks. Astrid did not like pigs at all.

"Hey, girl!" Astrid grunted and said at the same time, carrying over the basket to the bed of hay where Spike lay, evidently just waking up. She blinked her beady eyes as if she could not believe what she was seeing, and when Astrid came over she sat up and flapped her wings excitedly like she had not eaten in days. "Hey! Stop that, you're scratching the walls," Astrid set the basket down and pushed it over with her foot so all the fish spilled out with some sickening squelches and slimy-sounding pops.

Spike dove in and Astrid sat on a broken box, stretching her back. "Why don't you go out and socialize with the other dragons at the pen? I'm sure Zip and Zap miss you," Astrid said as she shook out her hair, noticing how strangely soft it was on her upper back where the neckline of her dress slightly plunged.

Spike seemed to shrug but Astrid already knew why; Spike was stuck-up and snotty and she was really good at fishing so all the other dragons seemed to have a beef with her. Astrid understood because other girls around Berk treated her much the same. She held her chin high and was the best at fighting so many thought she was bragging but she was not in any way—she was just confident and she was good at what she did. Astrid hated how confidence was struck down as being automatically cocky and full of oneself; she was not either, she just recognized her own skill compared to others. She was not full of herself… but Spike was.

"You need to get over yourself, girl, or you'll die an old lady all by your lonesome," Astrid grinned when Spike eyed her as if to say 'shut up', continuing to swallow fish whole or chew their bones like twigs. Astrid stood up and waved good bye. "I'll be back later! You better go out and say hello!"

She left the barn just as Ingrid stepped outside on the threshold, waving her in. "Come on, Astrid, we've got _plenty _of laundry to do!" Despite her mother's hidden warning to hurry up, Astrid took her time getting to the house because she was not excited to do laundry. She sighed because now she had to wash both Auda _and _Brandan's clothes instead of just hers and her parent's clothes. Gods only know how Brandan keeps up his own cleanliness; he was an Irishman and they did not bathe nearly as often as the Northerners. Astrid really hoped Auda was teaching him Laugardagr and how goddamn important it was.

"You can be a real pain in the ass, Astrid," Ingrid said as her daughter approached, lightly slapping her pert behind as she passed into the house. Astrid tossed an immensely confused and offended look over her shoulder, her brows furrowed so tight she could have stolen Gobber's unibrow and slapped it on her face. Ingrid, however, only grinned and shut the door, putting her hands on her hips.

Ingrid tsk-ed. "Oh, come on now, don't look at me like that. Get those sheets, girl. Time to get to work," she shooed her away but Astrid was still dumbfounded; her mother had not remotely touched her behind since spanking her with a wooden spoon when she was nine for punching Auda in the face and knocking out an already loose tooth. She pushed it aside though and gathered up the sheets off all the beds, and going into Auda and Brandan's room, she was tempted to search through their gifts for any cool things they may have received but her mother was calling for her to hurry.

She shoved all the sheets into one big basket that she carried over to the Rönd River a few hundred yards in the forest. Because most people had done their laundry yesterday, it was mainly just Ingrid and Astrid with a few others at the river's banks. It was quiet for the most part, but a few small children played in small pools where the river did not move so swiftly and where small minnows gathered while their mothers chatted away in low conversations, and sometimes a mother would shout out something to their child if one of them was misbehaving. A few feet away were the two gossiping mothers, so Astrid zoned out listening to their petty stories of husbands and brothers and what to cook for dinner, sometimes becoming lost in scrubbing clothes and rubbing a bar of soap on the scrubbing board she could not ever remember the name for (because she absolutely hated doing laundry), or mindlessly listening to her mother talk.

Arnheim often teased his wife that when she had ventured to Blarney, Ireland twenty odd years ago, she had kissed the Blarney Stone and received the most amount of the 'gift of gab' the stone is said to give to the kisser, but she had never done so. Ingrid could talk endlessly about any existing subject known to man and her limits never varied—it was infinite. She talked about anything and everything, from the dirt on the ground to the clouds in the sky. Astrid heard numerous stories from her grandparents that her mother's chatter got her in trouble on multiple occasions, from spreading gossip to untrue rumors in her younger days, and even talking so much she was grounded more than ten times. "She loves to hear her own voice," her grandfather would say almost every time Ingrid opened her mouth.

Astrid and her two older sisters had grown immune to it, but Auda was proving to have the same 'gift'. Though Astrid was much like Ingrid, talking profusely was not one of the things they had in common. In fact, because of her mother, Astrid hated big-talkers and learned to be generally closed-mouthed. Astrid did not have any immense need to run her mouth constantly because she liked getting her point across in as few words as possible, but she was not by any means the silent type. She spoke when she needed to but was not one to lead the conversation unless it was a subject she was adamant about. She liked being in-between otherwise.

Astrid, so focused on shutting her mother's voice out, didn't realize she was being spoken to until Ingrid splashed her arms with the cool glacier-melt water. "What?" Astrid said, pausing her scrubbing to look at her mother looking at her expectantly.

"How was Hallbera's?" Ingrid asked again, raising a thin brow, rubbing the cloth without having to look at it.

"Oh, it was okay. She's asking me to make four dresses in the three months until harvest that are just like the one I gave Auda," Astrid replied calmly, rinsing out one of her father's undershirts. "I don't think Ranka or Stinkeye really like me, though. Stinkeye gave me the stink eye when I came in," But, despite not being a whole lot like her in the talking field, Astrid did find herself talking more than normal multiple times.

"Ranka really doesn't like anybody these days. It's understandable since her husband died three years ago right when they got married. But because she doesn't really like me, she probably won't like you," Astrid did get her bluntness from her mother, though. "I don't really know Stinkeye, but I'm friends with her mother Toadfoot and, from what I've heard, she's just snooty. Toadfoot says she's always had a problem with Stinkeye being rude to others she doesn't know. Toadfoot hoped marrying her off would tame her, but I suppose that never worked out," she shrugged. "But, I do think you'll do a great job at being Hallbera's apprentice when she does decide to accept you, which I really think she will. Sewing would be the last thing I would think you'd like. Now that there aren't dragon raids every two nights, I'm glad you've found something else to occupy your time with. All I do now is take care of the house. I'm so glad Auda's home now so she can help me with everything there is to do," Ingrid sighed, flapping one of Astrid's chemises to straighten it out and then rinsed it in the water before folding it carefully and putting it into the basket at her right. "I'm proud of you," she smiled at her daughter, taking another garment of clothing out of another basket.

"Thanks," Astrid smiled back, and for once it was silent between mother and daughter. Astrid dipped one of Auda's long chemises newly made for her because she was now a wife and expected to wear a chemise to her ankles to bed, watching her pale hand underneath the crystal clear water. It was cool, having been warmed some from it's passage from high in the mountains from glaciers and fjords, traveling the distance now to the sea, spreading into streams and creeks, feeding all the coves around Berk.

Then, Astrid remembered something. She was at a cove last night where she drank with Hiccup… and kissed him. _I kissed him!_ She thought, careful not to let her mother see her blush or hear her heart race faster. _And he sucked at it, too_, she giggled to herself, quietly, and outwardly smiled, taking a shirt to dip in the water now, but she kissed him, and she faintly remembered feeling her stomach twist, and not from the alcohol. _But I'll teach him. I'll be glad to. And his stubble—ooh. _She allowed herself to fawn over him in her head, their second kiss of the night at her doorstep that made her want to jump him fading into the forefront of her memory, and he initiated that one. _He's so sweet, kissing me so lightly like that. But, my Gods, I had such an impulse to—_

"Ugh, isn't it hot?" Ingrid interrupted her train of thought with a mighty groan, rolling up her deep maroon sleeves farther up her elbows.

"Maybe if you didn't wear such a dark colored dress, you wouldn't be so hot," Astrid adorned a smart-ass grin when her mother tossed her a playful scolding look.

And then it hit her: _swimming. _

"I think after laundry, I'm going to go swimming at the cove," Astrid said. _Naked. _

"Not until after dinner you don't _and_ after we hang these up to dry. You're not getting away so easy," Astrid frowned. "I worked Auda today to the bone so you should be grateful I'm not making you do much work today after all you've done to help me these past few months. I thank you for it, dear. I know I took you away from your beloved training time with your axe and your friends," Ingrid raised a brow, sighing. "but you've been a great help. Now we can all relax, even just a little. Now that Brandan's at home, Arnheim is taking it a little easy as well because there's another guy. You know in his previous marriage before marrying me he had all sons with his wife, Brunhildr. Then she died and he married into a family of all girls," Ingrid smiled solemnly, eyes downcast to the pair of trousers she was scrubbing at.

"Mom, I've heard this a thousand times—I know dad had another wife and I have three half brothers, two with children, all married. Auda and Aislin's dad, Wolffang, died in a dragon raid, your first husband, and grandmother and grandfather married you to dad barely four months after. I don't have any real siblings, thirty cousins, eleven aunts and uncles, and six grandparents. I know, I know, I know. Moving on now," Astrid waved her hands as if swatting a fly out of the air. "What's for dinner?" Astrid was a professional at roping her mother back into the real world after she got off track instead of reminiscing.

"Auda should be starting it right about now…," Ingrid looked over her shoulder like she could see the plume of smoke from their chimney through the dense firs.

"Alright, I'll say my goodbyes after dinner, then. Get my pyre ready," Astrid received a swat to the shoulder from her mother and she responded back with a playful splash to her lap.

Ingrid's mouth fell open as Astrid laughed, but it quickly turned into a devious grin when she splashed her daughter back, soaking her front. Being Astrid, she couldn't be outdone, so she took a big swipe of water and Ingrid was soaked. It was not long before both Hofferson women were dripping wet head to foot, and by then they had taken the clothing needing to be washed to the middle of the river where it was shallow to simply wash the rest there. Nostalgia was a powerful force alongside happiness, and together they were hand in hand at this moment, flooding Astrid like a torrential wave, soaking her being.

When she was younger, when Aislin or Auda were too busy or out with friends and Astrid was stuck indoors, Ingrid would be the only one to play with her. Since Ingrid was the only one in the house besides Astrid who preferred axes, it was her who taught Astrid how to use a double-headed axe. Ingrid was widely known for her axe-play, and because of all the days the two spent playing and sparring and chasing each other, it was no wonder Astrid followed in Ingrid's footsteps. Though sometimes Astrid would like to think she was independent in her chosen path, deep down it was just like her mother's.

They were more alike in axe-play than anything else and every older generation Viking knew the resemblance of Astrid's battle sneer, the certain glint she had in her eyes, even to the way Astrid stood and walked away from fallen enemies with dramatic swings of her hips. Astrid was certainly her mother's daughter, more like her than her two sisters, and together, they were a perfect team.

The two Hofferson's finished the family laundry before sundown, carefully and delicately folding each article of clothing and arranging them in the baskets by who owned what. They walked back home down the packed dirt path in the forest to the streets of the lower village where they lived, making their way home with tousled hair and wide grins that looked nothing alike but they never looked more related. When they arrived, dinner was done, so they quickly clipped on the clothing on the line in front of the house before dashing inside.

Entering the kitchen, Ingrid dusted off her skirt with Astrid trailing behind, only to find everyone sitting down at the table already. "Good, everything's all set," Ingrid said with an air of gratitude and simplicity, pulling out her chair on the right side of her husband around the corner of the table and sitting down. Astrid followed suit next to her, and immediately she sensed her father's temper.

"Why are ye sohking wet, Ingrid? Astrid?" Arnheim said calmly, the first warning, his hands folded on the table.

Ingrid knew instantly how her husband would react and she was always prepared for nights like these, but tonight she wasn't having it. "Let's not get into it right now, Arnheim, please. Let's just have a pleasant dinner that your daughter so kindly prepared."

Auda's eyes were downcast. She did not acknowledge her mother much at all except for flicking her eyes upward once. Astrid watched Auda carefully, quickly deciphering her mood; Arnheim had yelled at her, and looking at Brandan across the table from her, he had been forced to keep his mouth shut from defying his father-in-law who was housing him, an Irishman. Brandan looked positively pissed, his mouth in a tight line through his close-cut beard.

"I asked you a question," When Arnheim was in this mood his accent almost entirely disappeared at some words, but when he got roaring drunk like he used to it was the complete opposite. Astrid could feel her mother next to her grow tense, and she could almost hear her choosing her words carefully.

"We went to do laundry and we ended up playing a little bit in the river. Nothing to worry about. We hung it up outside just now and it's drying—,"

Arnheim interrupted with a rough hand slamming the dinner table, making every member jump in surprise. "So you git to 'pley' all day while I warck my ass off for this family? Is this how it is? Huh? Because I git _shite_ farr appreciation and my wife makes a fool o' herself 'pleying'? You've got ta bee fuckin' kiddin' me!" his voice rose with every word, and even Astrid jumped in time with each syllable, cringing. It was amazing how such a good feeling could be blown away like dandelion spores.

"Arnheim—stop—," Ingrid tried calming him, resting a tentative hand on his throbbing one but he threw her away like she was a leper.

"No! I've 'ad enough of this fucking bullshite, Ingrid!"

"What? What have any of us possibly done, Arnheim?" Ingrid raised her voice after trying to go the calm route and failing. Arnheim was an impossible man to reason with when he got going but that never stopped his wife from trying.

"Well, farr one, yeh need ta teach yer daughter how to cook because I come hoom and I get… this. This… this shite," he gestured to the table of food. Astrid looked at the bowl of sliced bread, the plate of stewed cabbage and carrots, the beef brisket that looked a little overcooked but still looked appetizing, and Auda even set out a small cup of flowers for a center piece. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Auda's dinner, and form Arnheim's words, Auda sank deeper into her chair and Astrid saw Brandan reach for her hand under the table.

"I can't eat this. All I ever want is a nice dinner, and you get Auda ta cook. Yeh shoulda sent her to do tha laundry," Arnheim took a swig of the ale and milk mixture, slamming the cup on the table and shaking his head.

"I worked her all day. You were gone, Arnheim. Auda and I did all the housework today, the least I could do was give her a break! She only got married _two damn_ days ago!" Ingrid never swore, so this was a marking to Astrid that she was really mad. "I apologize, Brandan, it's—," she said in a lower voice but Arnheim cut her off again.

"Oh, so yeh cleaned, didja? About fuckin' time, for Odin's sakes!" Arnheim bellowed and Astrid's stomach turned. She wanted him gone—now. "You jest aboot embarrrassed me yesteerday when your obnoxious fam'ly came here—thee 'ouse was a complete mess! And your father, ugh," he made the most disgusted gargle like he was truly appalled. "that fat _blob_ disrespected me son straight to 'ee's face!"

_Say something, mom, say _something, Astrid pleaded in he head, but Ingrid just took it. She had nothing to say. After years of being beaten down daily, what else was there left to say? A forever emotionally-strong woman, she was helpless against her husband whom she swore in marriage to be obedient to. Astrid would never take such insults from her husband because she would sooner punch him in the face, or even more tender parts. Astrid hated her father straight to the bone and through, hated his entire being, everything that made him. She was disgusted she was his daughter and the hue of her eyes clearly showed and even her cold exterior; she felt lower than dirt that he was her father and she was half of him.

A tense silence followed and Arnheim shook his head, spearing a slice of brisket and slamming it onto his plate, grumbling. Watching him childishly throw a temper tantrum made Astrid's very blood boil, how pathetic he acted, what a rotten person he was—she couldn't stand it. She wasn't going to sit by anymore and listen to her parents bicker and her father constantly berating his wife for the most menial issues. It made her sick.

Astrid stood with a flourish of screeching wood and all eight eyes were on her. Ingrid whispered for her sit down, but she _wouldn't sit down_. Astrid pointed an accusing finger at Arnheim who instantly flared at the defiance, his face red, but before he could speak, Astrid spat, "You are a piece of shit," and she threw a few slices of bread at his chest before running out the back door. Outside, she could hear her father bellow "ASTRID!" but she did not stop.

She ran around her house, and hearing heavy footsteps inside she rightly assumed to be her father's heading toward the front door, she ran faster. She slipped on some slick grass and fell to her knee to stain it green but she got up and ran as fast as her strong legs could endure. She needed out. Out of that place that seeped sorrow and pain gilded with the smiles of women. She wish she had done it years ago, telling her father what had been festering and growing in her head like vines. She hated him so much it ached. He hurt her mother, her kind, loving mother, and he was unremorseful. He was lower than shit, he was dirt. He was pathetic and would always be dirt.

She ran. The cooling humidity in the air failed to soothe her prickling skin and her muscles protested with each lunge after racing down two block. She did not know where she was going. She needed to run more, her muscles hurt like Hel. This was ridiculous; she was so out of shape. Tomorrow she would train all day, that was her plan. She ran faster, rounding a corner.

The forge.

She ran there, forgetting her muscles and remembering Hiccup's face. She had not seen him all day. She did not even realize. Her thoughts were so consumed by him it felt like he was there all along. _Hiccup_.

She burst through the door, and the first thing she noticed was the dying fire inside the hearth, blackened with still a few embers hanging on. It was still hot in the shop, however, but she was just looking for Hiccup. Did he leave already? No, he would have locked the door, he would not forget, he was not stupid.

"Hiccup?" Astrid said on crests of heavy breathing, now feeling the burn in her thighs and a stitch in her side. Man, she was out of shape.

Hiccup emerged from the back room, this time with his shirt on, looking confused to see Astrid panting in the doorway. He was glad to see her, though, he missed her all day. He had actually planned on stopping by her house and throwing pebbles at her window like he had before after work, but here she was, almost seeming to read his mind. "Hey," he said with a smile, walking over to her while he rubbed his charcoal-coated hands on a spare towel. "What're you doing here?"

Astrid was still trying to catch her breath, but she was at least breathing slower now, hands on her hips, slightly cocked. Hiccup did not fail to noticed the flush of her cheeks and her messy hair that looked damp from whatever she had done previously, and her breathing gave away that she had ran here. "What are you doing now?" She asked, wiping her dry mouth with the back of her hand.

"Uhm, just finishing some sketches," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder and looked to the door where a candle was lit inside, enticing, almost like a far off beacon. "Why?"

"What are you doing after?" Astrid asked instead of answering him. She wanted to go, go, go. Go with Hiccup. Now.

"Going… home?" he replied, a bit thrown off by her eagerness. What was she planning?

"Come swimming with me."

That threw him for a curve. "Swimming?" he said like the word was foreign to him. Hiccup furrowed his brows, looking down at Astrid throw her head back and groan, getting a good view of her long neck. _I'll sketch that later_, he thought and bit his lip.

"Yes, _swimming_, idiot. C'mon, let's go," she tried reaching for his hand, but Hiccup pulled it back to gesture to the back room and scratch his head.

"I-I gotta finish—,"

"Fine! Just hurry," she shooed him off with a flick of her hand and backed up to pull herself onto a counter. Hiccup shuffled to his backroom to quickly sketch in some design parts for a large-scale bola launcher.

Astrid tried relaxing herself, closing her eyes and listening to the pure silence the forge offered, but the red face of her father kept coming onto the black screen of her eyelids. She was so _angry_. A million times before this she remembered seeing his face grow so grotesque right before he would backhand her or her sisters or even her mother, which was highly illegal, when he would get drunk. The pain of it drew her to running out and training with her axe before she was even strong enough to hold such a weapon. Astrid remembered sitting against her Thinking Rock next to her Favorite Tree, crying her eyes out a hundred times before she turned eight. Arnheim was a violent drunk before he swore to Ingrid he would not take sip of alcohol after he almost threw her and himself off a cliff. He surprisingly kept his word to this day, however, the promise was too little, too late, for the three Hofferson girls had grown an intense hate for him that could never die, and Astrid was never the same because of it.

She pushed a hand to her forehead, not liking the squeezing girdle around her heart one bit. She sighed, opening her eyes and looking around the orange-lit forge from the setting sun through the windows. _Hiccup works here_, she thought. Wood and dirt floors, wooden walls, hanging weapons, various smiting tools on the walls, a pile of weaponry… it was oddly peaceful. There was a stillness Astrid had not felt before, a sense of calm, compose. This was Hiccup's spot, like Astrid's in the forest.

Before she knew it, Hiccup came out of the backroom with his hands clean and the candle blown out, walking over to the open windows to close them. Astrid hopped off the counter and shut the last one before he could reach it, his arm extended. She grinned at him and he smiled back cheekily.

"Oh, thanks," he said in a sarcastic tone but she knew he did not mean anything by it.

"You bet," Astrid latched it shut and spun around. "Let's go swim."

What made Astrid twirl out of the door, Hiccup would never be quite sure, but he chased after her with a grin on his face, quickly locking the door before catching up. He caught up her to walking rather briskly, arms swinging at her sides making her flowy tunic swish a bit. Hiccup just noticed her hair was down, walking next to him with a gentle un-Astrid-like smile on her face, and Gods, she looked so beautiful. Hiccup's heart almost jumped out of his throat as he watched her wild mane of golden yellow hair bounce and quiver behind her as she walked, wavy like the ocean and slightly unkempt, but gorgeous all the same. Oh, he just wanted to pull her to him and kiss her because she was so absolutely breath-taking and he wanted to be like that forever, just them both.

"What're you looking at?" Astrid said abruptly with a questioning, sour tone to her voice, brows furrowed, and Hiccup was brought back to reality. He remembered that if he did suddenly kiss her again, she would probably knee him somewhere rather painful because this was _Astrid. _She was different than all the other girls on Berk Hiccup did not even know names for, and different from the girls in Ireland who swooned over him. She was hard to please and even harder to get but Hiccup enjoyed the chase and he knew Astrid did not mind either, a_nd_, thinking about it further, _she probably likes it_.

The corner of Astrid's mouth was upward, resisting the one of her voice, so Hiccup grinned and looked forward. "Nothing."

She promptly punched him in the shoulder.

00

OOOOOHoohoo. What's gonna happen? :D Just you wait.

I really have trouble with the older characters, so I hope I did alright with Gobber. Funny thing is, though, is that Gobber is one of my favorite characters, and though I haven't done much of Stoick, he's one of my favorites, too. Uggh. Hiccup will forever be my TOP FAV, however, and Astrid.

Astrid's father is such an asshole, omg.

**shunxalice: Thank you so much! It's a relief you don't mind long chapters, and I don't really either, but some people do and it's understandable. Have fun wherever you are! :D **

**Michelle: Thanks a bunch! I hope you liked this update as well! :)  
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	7. Chapter 6

Aaaaand here's where the rating changes to M. I hope I did okay! Let me know how it went!

**Note: PLEASE listen to Gobbledigook by Sigur Ros! Seriously, this song inspired pretty much this whole story, the dynamics between Hiccup and Astrid, and this chapter. I cannot give enough credit to this song (Played about 600 times in my iTunes library. No big deal). But, please, take a minute to look up the song on YouTube and listen to it while reading this chapter. You do not have to like it, but the 'vibes' the song give off is what makes this chapter, essentially. Music is very important to the process of writing chapters for me, so I will have more music for you guys to listen to, but this song is like, THE BASIC of ALL BASICS of this story. /end note**.

00

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Six

00

"Ow! What was that for?" Hiccup winced and rubbed the rounded muscle of his shoulder, laughing a little behind his words.

Astrid shrugged. "Don't get cheeky with me," her smile almost made her glow, combined with the orange setting sun and her golden blonde hair. Hiccup swore her skin was almost glowing. _Geez_, he thought, _she was so angry five minutes ago coming into the forge, and now she seems so happy. _

"What? For looking at you? I can't look at you now?" he teased, his boots and prosthetic crunching on the gravel and Astrid's bare feet hardly made a sound; she seemed to float as her skirt and hips swished. She was ethereal as she walked a bit ahead of him, glowing like she was. Hiccup's stomach flipped and he felt a blush creep onto his freckled cheeks. He bit his lip, unable to keep his eyes off her as she seemed to dance.

"Nope," she grinned over her shoulder, shaking her hair out behind her.

Hiccup's eyes watched her like he was sketching her again, watching her hips rock and her calf muscled tighten as she walked on the balls of her feet, long and thin and pale and _erotic. _She had great legs, mile long and smooth and impeccable (except for some scratches and scarred insect bites here and there, but Hiccup hardly even noticed). He was playing out a scene in his head in the quick five seconds before Astrid spoke where he pulled her hand to stop her, whipped her around to shove his mouth to hers while running a hand up her thigh under her dress—then she spoke.

"What're you thinking about? You look like your head is in the clouds," Astrid said, walking backwards in front of him with her arms folded behind her back. She was in an oddly playful mood because it was so fun to mess with Hiccup, and also because she did not fail to notice his eyes had not left her since running out of the forge. It was weird how she became into such a good mood suddenly with him.

_She said something, _Hiccup thought, noticing how his mouth was so dry. _What did she say? Oh, your head is in the clouds, isn't it? What are you thinking about? Oh, you're thinking about— _"You."

Did he really just say that?

Astrid blinked, walking next to him again and feeling her throat constrict. He was thinking about her. _Of course, stupid, he was looking at you like a piece of meat. He couldn't have been thinking about anything else. Nothing's up with that. _Astrid's thoughts could not have been farther from the truth.

Noticing her silence and the red hot blush on her cheeks, Hiccup swelled with confidence. He could make her become like that with such simple words? He was baffled and surprised he had not figured it out earlier. He walked closer to her and took her hand so discreetly it would have been hard for anyone else walking through the village to see, and leaned down to whisper to her, "I think about you all the time."

Astrid could not keep her eyes focused on any one thing and she hated how her heart seemed to pick up in speed. _Oh, Gods, _she thought, looking up at him. _Hiccup. _She wanted to kiss him but she wouldn't let herself be so easy. He would have to say more than that to earn a kiss. Grinning, Astrid squeezed his hand, walking shoulder to shoulder with him, and looked ahead. "I don't think about you at all."

Hiccup guffawed. "Don't get cheeky with me," he repeated her, feeling static run up his arm from his hand and fingers entwined with hers.

"Pssh," Astrid snorted. "Don't let your head get too big, there, Mr. Macho, or I'll have to pop it."

"My head isn't swelling, you're just imagining things. I just like getting you to blush."

Astrid swiftly tore her hand out of his and punched him in the same shoulder with the other hand. "I'm not blushing!"

"Oh, there we go—your face is turning pink!"

She punched him again. "Shut up!"

"You're _blushing_, Astrid Hofferson! Ooh—,"

"Shut up!"

"I can make you bluuuush—,"

"Haddock, I swear, if you don't stop now, I'll kill you."

"Seriously kill me?" Hiccup grinned crookedly, raising a brow. She was so fun to tease—at least until she knees him somewhere painful, so he knew where to draw the line.

"Seriously kill you," she was smiling but she was being totally serious too. Hiccup took her hand again just as they walked into the forest, and this time he did not try to hide it and neither did she.

"So why do you want to go swimming?" Hiccup asked, finally starting to control his racing heart.

Astrid raised her head to face the towering pines above her, so tall it was difficult to see the tops. There was a devious undertone to her smile that made Hiccup curiously wonder. "I'll tell you when we get there."

"We'll get there in two seconds," he was itching to know; he's always been a bit nosey.

"Just wait."

"What are you going to do?" he jumped to the quickest conclusion he could find.

"_Nothing_. It'll be fun."

"Are you going to make me watch you rip off a fish head? 'Cause if you are, I'll probably vomit, just a heads up," he burst out laughing when she punched him yet once more.

"_No_. Just be patient, will you? You're like my three-year-old cousin, for Odin's sakes. Grow up."

Hiccup looked away from her and watched the trees approach ahead, hearing the trickling waterfall get closer. He noticed things but he did not comprehend them because he was so entirely focused on their swinging hands between them that if a wolf had been standing in their path for five minutes he would not have been surprised. He found it ridiculously surreal he was a_ctually_ holding hands with _Astrid Hofferson_. He did not know she even liked to hold hands, but then again, he learned something new about her everyday and she never failed to surprise him. _Oh, wait, that one time she was touching my hand under the table the night before I left. So maybe she does like holding hands—but only secretly. _He liked that. Hiccup liked being in on secrets, especially secrets with Astrid, only making him more excited for the secrets they would have, hopefully, in the future.

"Midgard to Hiccup," Astrid waved a hand in front of his face.

"Huh?"

"We're here, dope."

"Oh," he looked around, and indeed, they were back at the village swimming hole, devoid of anyone else other than them. "So what are we doing?"

"Skinny dipping," she replied simply and casually.

Hiccup blinked at her as if she spoke some language foreign to him like Gaelic or English. "_What?_"

"Turn around," Astrid instructed him, twirling her finger in a conical motion, her other hand on her hip.

"We're _not_ going skinny dipping," Hiccup said with finality laced with panic, holding his hands up. Astrid wanted to get _naked_ and swim with _him_? What, did Loki possess her all of a sudden? She's crazy! "No way. Nope. Nuh uh."

"Turn _around_ before I punch you in the face because we're going whether you like it or not. And you better not run away. You know what I'll do to you," Hiccup turned around, blushing redder than a tomato, trying to shut the sound of her belt buckle and the rustling of her clothing out because he was so immature in the art of taking off clothing with girls. He was _such_ a virgin.

Then suddenly he heard behind him a few running steps, silence, and then a big splash. Spinning around like a top, he saw no Astrid, then looking around he saw a low cliff where she jumped off from. He went to the edge and saw Astrid surface, all hair pushed away from her face, slicked back with water. She grinned up at him, waving him in. "C'mon, the water's fine!"

"What if I can't swim… because of my leg? I haven't swum in three years! I don't think I'll be able to, Astrid, i-it will be—,"

"Just shut up and take your clothes off. I'll help you swim; I swim like a fish. _Please_, Hiccup. Just come swimming with me. Skinny dipping."

He couldn't deny her when she asked him like that. He hated how he was such a pushover. He spun on his heel to escape her view from below. "Don't look!" he sounded frustrated but Astrid only grinned.

"I won't!" she sucked in her breath and dove under, swimming toward the waterfall where it was shallower for him.

Hiccup's hands were shaking as he unlaced his trousers and pulled them down. He could not believe he was actually going skinny dipping for his first time with Astrid of all people. First, she held his hand and now she was making him go swimming stark naked. Gods, he did not want to think about how cold the water must be. Well, he was still sweaty and hot so it couldn't be that bad… but, still. He did not want to get _naked_. He was so still skinny even after building up 'so much muscle'. _Yeah, right_, he thought, sitting down and unbuckling the straps that held his prosthetic to his leg. Looking at the stump, he wanted to vomit because he was so nervous. _She's going to see _it. He did not let anybody look at his amputated, smoothed-over stump—he even hated to look at it. It meant sacrifice, honor, bravery, but he just felt humiliated and disgusting, and those were _his_ feelings, so he did not want to even imagine Astrid's.

He wanted to run. He just wanted to go, get away from this stupid swimming hole, dig himself a grave and bury himself in it because Astrid was going to kill him someday anyway. He did not want to die, but yet he did not want to go skinny dipping either. _I'm already naked. I can't go now. _Shaky and imbalanced, he pulled himself up to stand, feeling his phantom limb reappear again. Before he could think about it, he started hopping toward the cliff's ledge and jumped.

It was indeed quite cold.

Hiccup scurried to the surface in surprise rather than feeling the shock of the actual temperature, bursting through in a flourish of water and loud gasps. From the other end, only about twenty yards away, Astrid cackled in laughter as Hiccup shook water from his eyes, sending his hair flying in flap of water. He frowned, thoroughly embarrassed because he pretty much just flashed Astrid in all his nude glory. He could almost feel the water around him heat up. He dipped under the water to avoid hearing her laugh, swimming toward her. Because he only had full use of one leg and the other glided through the water as he kicked, he used his arms to propel himself forward. He felt like he was not going anywhere. Resurfacing, Astrid was closer to him, still laughing, but looking apologetic. Hiccup was still blushing, but he looked behind himself and noticed he got a good ten feet away from where he started swimming, so maybe he was just extremely lacking in the speed swimming department now.

"I'm sorry!" Astrid tried rallying in her laughs but she just could not. "You flapped your arms so much when you jumped in, you looked so funny. Sorry, Hiccup," she did look genuinely sorry but Hiccup was still embarrassed. He smiled though because she was apologizing and she did not have her hair in her face, showing a tiny, flat mole on her temple where her fillet would have hidden it, and she looked so dazzling. Plus, she was naked, but he couldn't see anything lower than her collarbone, but the thoughts were enough.

"Don't worry about it," Oh, Odin, he was burning. _Why_ was he such a pervert? Respect, Hiccup!

Astrid shrugged, then splashed him. "Catch me if you can," winking, she swam away from him while Hiccup wiped water from his eyes.

"Hey, it's generally not nice to tease a cripple into chasing after someone," Hiccup replied sarcastically, following her toward the waterfall.

"You're the farthest thing from being a cripple," Astrid said, swimming backwards, showing off the slight curves of her breasts where they rose from her upper ribcage, but just barely. Instead, Hiccup focused on the towering rock face, watching some swallows dart through the air to their nests in one of the many crannies in the wall.

"I still hobble."

"Hardly."

Hiccup furrowed his brows. "Really?"

"Really. It's hardly noticeable," Astrid honestly replied, sitting on a coarse rock underneath the surface of the water next to the short waterfall so only about two inches below her collarbone showed.

"Oh," Hiccup said, pulling himself up to sit on a rock that was algae-free, the water ending at about where his ribcage split. He thought deeply, looking at the dark water while Astrid watched him.

Water droplets clung to his pale skin that was absolutely dotted with freckles, especially on his shoulders and forearms, the water dripping down his toned chest back into the pond. With his hair thrown from his forehead she could see even more freckles and tiny moles in the remaining dim light. She never noticed the thickness or the sharp angle of his eyebrows before, darker than the rest of his russet hair on his head. And his eyelashes, they were so thick and long she could see them from four feet away. Hiccup was so… so… what was the word? Handsome? Attractive?

Both?

This could be considered an epiphany. Hiccup was so dashing and handsome but still utterly Hiccup—awkward and lanky and perpetually sarcastic, but handsome at the same time. _Holy Odin_, she thought, her mouth painfully dry and her eyes strangely watering, but she was not about to cry.

Just as Hiccup raised his eyes to look at her a foot below and across him, Astrid felt the world switch into cliché mode. Seriously, time felt like it sopped for an hour as he looked straight into her eyes like his gaze was made of spears, piercing through the thick exterior of her soul and crashing right through and making a mess of everything like he used to do so well. His eyes were so emerald she had to blink again to make sure they were real. Okay, so he was kinda touching her soul with his eyes and she felt extremely uncomfortable because it happened so suddenly without her realizing. How did he get through so quick? Was that even humanly possible? She built up that wall for twelve years and here comes Hiccup and all he has to do is look at her and he's already through. Come on.

Astrid looked away and sank into the water, sliding off the rock. She sighed heavily, feeling her head spin. _Now would definitely not be a good time to faint, _she thought in response to her dizzy head, drawing in a heavy breath and holding it to sink underwater and swim off.

Hiccup blinked a few times, watching Astrid sink and disappear. _What just happened? Was she staring at me? She looked… she looked…, _Gods, what was the word? Amazed? Shocked? _Both?_

Hiccup pulled himself form the rock and followed her, still infinitely confused and curious. His stomach felt like an anvil. _She didn't look okay when she swam off, _he observed cleverly, watching her head pop up a few feet ahead of him.

"Astrid?" he said tentatively, circling around her to face her once he reached her.

"What?" she asked a bit quietly but it was obvious to hear the coldness in her voice despite the warm air and the cool water.

Quickly, Hiccup tried thinking of something that would make her mood change. "I can't look at you?" he asked lightly, and Astrid was once again surprised at his ability to know everything without trying.

"Not like you did," she said before she thought about it, and wanting to kick herself, swam off to the side from Hiccup toward the other end of the pond.

"How did I look at you?" he asked innocently, his voice smooth and reassuring and it made Astrid want to pour everything out to him but she didn't of course. But she really, really wanted to.

"I don't know!" she burst out in a flurry of emotion, throwing her arm up and slapping it down with sprays of water. "Goddamn it, this wasn't supposed to happen," she said under her breath but Hiccup still heard.

"What wasn't supposed to happen? Astrid, please tell me because I don't know what I did. I'm in the dark, here," Hiccup chuckled humorlessly, now able to stand on the sandy bottom of the pond but Astrid still had to swim until she could stand as well.

"I don't know either, Hiccup. I'm finding out I don't know a lot of things lately because you're here," she blushed slightly at her vague confession but hoped Hiccup couldn't see because the sun was so far below the trees. She crossed her arms tightly, avoiding looking at him as much as possible because she feared she was now weak and defenseless against him. Originally, she would have hated him for it, but Hiccup was different. She could not ever hate him, even if he left again for another two years chasing another ridiculous concept. She would want to hate him but she knew that she would probably run to him when he returned, if ever. It made her feel disembodied because she knew this was not one of Astrid's traits—it was the grown-up version of Astrid's traits and she felt so new, naked and freshly borne. _What the Hel is this? What's wrong with me? _She tried grappling any explanation she could but no puzzle piece fit the place it was meant to be. She whole but broken, full but empty, lost but found. There was still something missing.

"I'm sorry—,"

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault but mine," she brought her hands to her face and covered it, sighing so heavily as if it was the life force within her.

Hiccup stared at her, utterly and totally confused. What did he do? He just looked at her! But it had to have been something more than that. He looked into her eyes, so what did he remember seeing? _She looked… so small. And tiny. And surprised… and… she couldn't have been scared, could she? _Astrid, scared? What is this? Astrid would sooner kill a bear than look scared, or punch him in the stomach. _That's the thing, though, is that she didn't. She didn't try to punch me, but I _know_ she looked a bit terrified. I must have clicked something. Or something. _

Bless his heart, she wanted to say. How could Hiccup be so infinitely understanding when she was such a mess and a pain in the ass? Hiccup was such a saint, dear Gods. How could Hiccup still want to hang around her when she was in such a jumble all the time? She even dragged him here and made him get naked to swim with her in one of her weird moods set off from her father. _Loki has possessed me, I swear_. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, dropping her hands from her face with a low chuckle sprouting in her stomach.

"I'm so sorry, Hiccup, I'm so messed up. Thank you for being so nice, thank you for swimming, thank you, thank you, thank you. And…," she let out a breath, twisting her hands together under the water. "thanks for, uhm, being there, I guess, if that's how you're supposed to say it. I know you didn't do or say anything, but… thanks. I don't know these things."

He wanted to laugh but he didn't. _Women. _He smiled instead, his eyes crinkling at the ends. "You're welcome, Astrid," he said slowly and softly. He didn't understand fully but at least he got somewhat of a grip on it. He was her anchor, her rock, and he was glad. What a funny time to realize it while they were skinny dipping. "This feels good, doesn't it? It's been crazy today, but this is a good end, I would say," Hiccup said, sinking into the water up to his neck.

"Yeah. It does feel good," Astrid said and felt a weight lift off her chest. After fighting with her father and after this hugely brief emotional ordeal, she was glad she was here with Hiccup—naked. She burst out laughing and threw her head back. "We're skinny dipping!"

"Yes, we are," he nodded. "Whoo!" he shouted, the echo reverberating off the high cliffs and going into the forest around them.

"Whoo!" Astrid threw her arms up and screamed, and they both laughed together.

They laughed and shouted as loud as they might for both knew nobody would think twice about two silly kids swimming at sundown after everybody went home. Splashing and swimming, kicking and laughing, Astrid and Hiccup swam for hours until their lips turned purple. Shivering and goose pimpled, Astrid climbed out first and Hiccup followed after she gave him the okay. But, what he did not see, however, was her devious smirk.

Hiccup pulled himself up onto a rock and used his knee to get himself fully out, Using a combination of his full leg and opposite knee, he climbed to the ledge a few boulders above him where he undressed. He was expecting to see a fully clothed Astrid waiting with her back turned for him, but what he found instead was quite the opposite.

She was stark naked, holding al their clothes in her arms, grinning madly. The only thing she did not have was his prosthetic, and that she balanced on her foot and tossed to him. Absentmindedly he caught it even with his mouth gaping and eyes equally so, a furious blush crept onto his cheeks, and he covered his crotch with his other hand while coming up to sit on the grass.

"Time for yet another naked endeavor: We're streaking."

Pausing putting on his prosthesis, Hiccup almost internally combusted. "Are you crazy!" he shrieked. "No, Astrid—,"

"Fine. I'm taking your clothes then so you'll have to, and you know I won't give them back," she said in a sing-song voice, smiling and blushing rather crudely, her white face almost painted red.

Hiccup swallowed. His process of Thinking Things Through has malfunctioned and entirely has failed him since being around Astrid. She often threw him into things without his consent, he figured, and he knew he couldn't stop her so he thought he might as well make the best of it.

"_Okay_. Quickly, though," he pulled the last strap tight and buckled it, his fingers almost having a mind of their own.

"Yes!" she threw their heap of clothes down and bolted so fast down the path to the village Hiccup only saw a blur of yellow and she was gone.

He stood up and ran after her and he could have sworn his heart was going to give out on him because he was racing so damn fast. Hiccup would never know what on Odin's holy earth possessed Astrid to take him streaking, or force him to, but within five minutes, he was glad she did.

He felt so impossibly free. It felt like he was flying again for the first time in his life, completely unbound and unfettered and free. He could feel everything so clearly as if his senses had been heightened tenfold: the grass was so distinguishable from the leaves and dirt, so soft, the air passing over his body moved every hair on his skin, every muscle ached but he wanted more. Hiccup never thought streaking could be so fun. He ran through the sleeping village with the biggest smile, leaping over fences, flying down hills, racing through the streets after Astrid. She spun as she ran with her arms in the air, her hair flowing behind her like a golden silk curtain. He caught her hand and twirled her around, dancing in front of the Hildegaard's house, laughing together.

Two years ago, Hiccup would have jumped behind a barrel and ran, completely consumed by his self-esteem, but tonight he wasn't thinking anything by it, and clearly, neither was Astrid. For now it didn't matter about their bodies (thought Hiccup's eyes did wander and so did Astrid's, granted), it only mattered on the mutual joy they shared. They were free as birds, chasing each other through houses and alleys, through groves of trees into the empty market square, into fields of grass and back into the open. It reminded them both so terribly of flying, but they knew this was another kind of flying.

"Hey—!"

Astrid and Hiccup stopped silent from their dancing, chests heaving, and looked around for the source of the voice. "Wha…?" Astrid said, unable to keep the smile off her face.

"Hey! Who is… who—,"

Just as they saw a silhouette in a bright doorway, both teenagers darted into the forest like a pair of wild cats, hardly even wasting a second to see who it was. They weaved through the spaced birch trees back toward the swimming hole, feet crunching audibly on the dead leaves. Beneath him, Hiccup could feel the earth greet each footstep and squeak of his prosthetic, the sensations so high he could feel his body grow with tangible happiness.

They were still giggling when they reached the pond, and they threw on their clothes as if the air itself was freezing. Hiccup tightened his belt around his tunic just as Astrid put on her fillet, and suddenly Hiccup was so overcome with the happiness he felt, he had to share it, combined with reveling in Astrid's windswept beauty. He lurched forward and took her jaw in his hands, catching her mouth just as she was beginning to stand straight. He pulled her up with him and though she was thoroughly surprised, Astrid greeted him full-heartedly, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly.

Hiccup kissed her hard and deeply despite his lack of experience and Astrid was pleasantly surprised, again. Though not as great as he could be, he wasn't bad. She pushed those thoughts away, however, because it grew heated quicker than she expected. She found herself pressing her body hard against his as his hands fell from her jaw to her hips, pressing with the full of his hands up her sides through the thin linen of her dress. He circled his hands around her back and up again to wrap his arms around her shoulders. Astrid weaved her fingers in his soft and damp hair and kissed him harder as her stomach did weird and new topsy-turvies combined with a hot pain between her legs that wanted this to go further. She shoved her tongue in his mouth and Hiccup took that as a cue, lowering her to the mossy ground in an uncoordinated fashion. He dropped her three inches above the ground so her tailbone and head hit the grass a bit harder than needed, but Astrid, quite frankly, wasn't paying attention and forgot about it. She just couldn't believe what was happening.

The throbbing, pleasant pain grew as Hiccup's rough and itchy jaw tickled her neck as he kissed it tenderly but eagerly. Oh, Gods, that scruff. It made him so rugged and dirty and sexy, unf. She passed it off as her traditional Viking woman instincts because almost every man on Berk had a beard, most of them married, so it was kind of ingrained into her system in some ways. But why should she be thinking about other men when Hiccup was doing surprisingly good for not knowing much about anything concerning this stuff. Astrid didn't even know, she's only made out before. It was so _exciting. _

And rather risky, but that's what made it fun. She would be shamed and called horrible names if anybody found out what they were doing right now, she could probably even be disowned or banished. She was unmarried and a virgin, this was so forbidden, and both of them knew it. But neither gave a single fuck. They were very hormonal and very _horny. _

Astrid sighed, arching her back slightly and swiveling her hips into his. _Ooh, _there it is. She wanted to laugh at Hiccup because he was _clearly_ turned on, but Hiccup raised his head and showed her his shy smile paired with a raging blush, only to possess her mouth again. Astrid gave little sounds to tell him he was doing well kissing her, and he took her feedback quiet well, changing when she gave lower sounds when he pushed his teeth too hard or moved his tongue too quickly, and repeating what he did well on.

Hiccup led his hands down her sides and suddenly when his fingers were touching her belt, Astrid took his hand and put it between her legs as if she needed it, the burning sensation almost too much to bear. Hiccup's heart almost jumped into his mouth as he pulled away from her with a smack, opening his eyes, but Astrid wouldn't have it, grasping the flippy ends of his hair and pushing his head down to her again in a battle of kisses. Something excited pulled behind Hiccup's navel and took over for him because he had no knowledge of what he was doing or how to do it, but he did it. He pushed up her tunic and sat up from her and sat on his heel and prosthetic to slowly pull off her underwear. She raised her hips from the ground so he could pull them over her rear and down her legs. Her underwear caught on her ankles but she kicked them off and grabbed a handful of Hiccup's tunic and pulled him to her, but she didn't have to do much because he fell to her like a leaf and immediately kissed her full and warmly, his hand returning to the spot that eagerly awaited him.

She jumped as his chill fingers touched her tender warmth. Hiccup pulled away briefly to see what the matter was, but she just kissed him again, letting him know to proceed. He did, gently rubbing the small pearl of flesh he first encountered and was pleased when he issued forth a beautiful gasp from Astrid, who was shocked as well, as it seemed. He grew more confident, rubbing in slow circles, pressing against her muscle to make her hips buck a bit.

Astrid arched into him, her hands holding wads of his shirt on his shoulders as she craned her neck upwards with a slow moan. She opened her eyes and saw through the tips of the firs and pine trees all the stars she could see, sprinkled across the sky like glittering sand from all the gods in Asgard. It was so beautiful, and she was here with Hiccup experiencing with him the most pleasing feeling she had ever felt, ever. She's only touched herself there once or twice out of mere childish curiosity, but never like this. And it was Hiccup, nonetheless, who was doing it to her. He was sending her reeling.

When his fingers danced and fingered around her opening after rubbing along her clit, she bit her lip and squeezed his damp hair. Hiccup's eyes flicked up at her and she saw the most ravaging expression in his face she thought would never come from Hiccup the Virgin because he looked very un-virgin-like. Somewhere in the depths of her sexually stimulated and frustrated mind, she made a mental note to get that look out of him again, but when he darted a single finger in, she couldn't think of anything else.

"Oh!" she shouted, curling her toes.

"Shh," Hiccup whispered, inches away from her face, and repeated the action, but this time kept his finger there. Astrid bit her lip and nodded faintly, burying her face into his neck as he pushed deeper.

Hiccup pumped his middle finger a few more times, amazed at how she enveloped around him so quickly and tightly. Her opening felt so small, so he carefully added another finger even though he was afraid she would break. She bit her lip, completely new to the uncomfortable stretching and burning, but once he pumped his fingers a few more times and they grew slicker, it didn't hurt so bad, and in fact, it even felt awesome. He curled his fingers a bit inside her, pleasantly ushering a loud moan from her into his shoulder. She bit at him a little but he didn't care to pay attention to it, sucking on a favorable spot on her neck, sure to be red by tomorrow.

Astrid squeezed her eyes shut and threw her face to the sky again, her mouth slightly open in an airy, choked moan. As his hand grew faster pumping in and out of her with mind-blowing speed, she felt her lower half tighten and untighten, twitch and tense, feeling herself climb higher on an untraveled peak. What was this? Her head was spinning as she only focused on the insanely pleasurable feeling in her abdomen, enhanced by Hiccup's godly mouth and scruff.

Then, oh, _fuck_—

"Ahh!" she began to scream but bit her hand to keep herself quiet, and then Hiccup's hand was splashed in fluid, his palm and fingers completely covered. She felt slack and sank into the earth like water in a dry plant, and Hiccup withdrew his hand from underneath her tunic, pushing himself up with his arm. He looked at his hand in curiosity, seeing it glimmer with her fluids from the moonlight, lacing between his fingers like sticky webbing.

He moved off her and sat next to her, wiping his hand in the grass and the rest on his pants, and looked to his side where Astrid still lay. Her hair was spread like a fan by her shoulders, messy and wet still, her eyes were half lidded and she panted heavily, an arm tossed above her head carelessly. She looked so exhausted.

"Hiccup?" she spoke, her voice small.

"Yeah?"

"What… was that?" Astrid asked quietly, hardly moving an inch.

"I don't know," Hiccup replied more regularly, but he was still coming down too. He looked around, seeing the waterfall from the pond, the groves of pine, firs, and other deciduous trees, seeing an old fire pit with tree trunks for stools nearby; he was in a tired daze all of a sudden.

"Was that an orgasm?" Astrid asked, not even to him, furrowing her brows. Hiccup shrugged and made an 'I don't know' noise. "I thought you weren't supposed to orgasm on first things like that. But, holy Freya, Hiccup, where on Midgard did you learn that?" Astrid sat up, hip to hip with him, sitting underwearless.

He shrugged again and looked to his side where she leaned against his shoulder as if she couldn't hold herself up. "I dunno, it just kinda happened… I guess," he wrapped a tired arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him and she rested her head on the crook of his neck and shoulder, yawning.

"Yeah. It did," Astrid reaffirmed, resting her hand on Hiccup's on her shoulder. Astrid would have been content to not cuddle with him at all, and in fact she would have preferred it, but with Hiccup being as affectionate as he was, she couldn't help it. Now in retrospect, he was pretty gentle with her and made no move to hurt her and made sure she was okay. Later, she would remember he was whispering in her ear calming words, his free hand not occupied running through her hair and kissing her cheek. He was so kind, through and through.

They rested there like that for awhile, quiet and tired, feeling no need to talk. Hiccup rubbed her arm and kissed the top of her head once or twice, just sitting there on the patch of grass above the swimming hole, so quiet that not even the wind blew; everything was sleeping.

"Hey, Astrid?" Hiccup said after a long while, opening his eyes and yawning, shaking the girl in his arm lightly.

"Hm? What?" she stirred suddenly as it she was a statue brought to life, pulling away from him. Hiccup smiled weakly, finding it so endearing that she fell asleep leaning against his side.

"Time to take you home," he said in a voice just below his normal tone, rubbing her arm to wake her up.

"Oh. Okay," she stood up, still under the thick spell of sleep. She grabbed her underwear and slid it on under her tunic, taking the hand Hiccup offered her to walk back to the village.

Hand in hand, Astrid stumbled next to Hiccup with half lidded eyes toward her house. Looking at the sky, Hiccup thought the sun would rise in a few hours, and thinking about the upcoming day he wanted to groan. More forge work after almost ten hour work shifts in less than a week. And, he probably wouldn't see Astrid tomorrow either, and that was another thing to groan about.

Stopping at her front porch, Astrid quickly turned to him and snaked her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on the hollow of his throat where she fit best. Hiccup hugged her back, running a hand over her eternally damp hair and kissed her lightly when she pulled away.

"G'night," she said lazily and spun out of his grasp, walking up the steps.

"'Night."

Hiccup walked home quietly, and walking inside, he was surprised to see Toothless sitting a few feet in front of the door as if he was waiting for him to come home. The fire was barely alive, but he could see Toothless move his single tailfin from his eyes, and he looked none too happy.

"Hi, Toothless," Hiccup said under a yawn, shutting the door behind him. "Sorry I was gone out so late. Quite the night," he walked around his dragon friend to the stairs that lead up to his bedroom, but Toothless stopped him by nudging his hand that he used for Astrid.

Toothless sniffed it and growled, eying him with annoyed glints in his eyes. "Hey, don't give me that. I had fun. You're supposed to be happy," Hiccup said with as much tired attitude he could muster, watching Toothless pointedly saunter over to the circular rug in the corner sprinkled with his fallen dragon scales. Hiccup waved him off and walked up the steps, and never before was he so happy to sleep.

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Well, well, well. It was due time for them to encounter something sexual, so I thought after the streaking bit was a perfect time :) Let me know how I did so I can edit future 'encounters'. Lol. Sounds like some alien movie.


	8. Chapter 7

Definitely read the notes at the bottom! :D

And, I just want to take a second of your time to say how much I love Craig Ferguson, the Scottish dude who voices Gobber (But you should know that). I watched one of his stand-ups and he is so. goddamn. funny.

Continue:

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Seven

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The next day after the waterhole excursion, Hiccup was surprised to get a special order from none other than Arnheim Hofferson. He came in mid-morning looking weary and tired but livid at the same time, and the harsh way he talked made Hiccup feel like he was just angry and yelling at him. He thought that maybe, on a slim chance, that Astrid got caught sneaking home last night, and Hiccup hoped it wasn't his fault. He knew how angry Arnheim could be, as well as every other villager on Berk because of his display nearly a decade ago. Arnheim was freighting, and for that he was a perfect Viking; tall, lean, huge as a bear and muscular as a horse, dark-haired, a deep and commanding voice, and with a bloody reputation of being a master at killing Nightmares. It was said he would dunk himself in water to wrestle with a flaming Nightmare just to strangle it with his own hands.

As a fact, Arnheim used to be a Berserker in his younger days, becoming the head of the Berserkers in combat, even, which helped to dub him as Arnheim the Hammer, best known for his deadly skills with the weapon. He was a monster, and Hiccup avoided him whenever possible since even his own father told him to keep away, but that would be hard to do since he was the father of the girl he's head-over-heels for.

In any case, Hiccup hoped Astrid did not bear the brunt of his legendary anger, and nervously took Arnheim's special order of nails for one of his ships. The whole time, Hiccup's hands sweated as he wrote down his requested requirements, looking at him in the face only once or twice. He was surprised to note that Astrid had his eyes. Bright and steely and icy, just like hers.

Once Arnheim left the front window, Hiccup sighed a giant relief, immediately setting to work. He melted down a few weapons that were entirely unfixable to mold and pound into Arnheim's desired shape. Storm clouds quickly rolled in and just as quick, it started to downpour, and with the cool and musty humidity the rain allowed, Hiccup worked faster than he had in days. He was able to get fifty nails out in two hours, and on the next batch, there was a knock at the window.

"Come inside!" Hiccup yelled, setting the stone bowl carved into a tall oblong shape with scraps of cut up metal inside of it on the middle of the red-hot coals to melt in the fireplace, using long pliers. Behind him, there was the opening of the door, squeak, and a shut, and Hiccup took his gloves off just as he turned around to see the guest inside.

Standing just on the threshold, immovable, was a younger boy about as tall as Hiccup's chest, skinny and feet covered in mud and dust. He took his cape hood off just as Hiccup was looked at him to reveal sandy-colored hair in waves tightly cut to his head, but he had a sheet of wet bangs over his forehead, paired with spectacular and big round ears. It was almost distracting how big his hears were. _Poor kid_, Hiccup thought sympathetically, waving him in with a gentle smile, but he could not rid the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

"You must be the new apprentice Gobber found, right?" Hiccup asked as the boy took a few steps toward him but did not come within ten feet of him. The boy simply nodded, his mouth clamped shut like a vice.

"Well…," Hiccup bit his lip, quickly coming to resent the awkward veil covering the forge. "Y-you can take your cape off. You don't have to freeze."

He did as Hiccup suggested, hanging the wet cape on a hook on the wall near the door, standing in his deep green calve-length pants and sleeveless tan shirt a bit damp from the rain. He was as stiff as a board.

_Oh, Odin_, Hiccup thought, exasperated. He prayed it wouldn't always be like this. At least on his first day he actually opened his mouth. "What's your name?" Hiccup asked, leaning against the counter and rubbing his temple, honestly trying to look nice but he really just wanted to be alone.

"Dagmundr, but I like to be called Dagger," he said, and thankfully, his voice wasn't as stony as he looked. He was young, that was for sure, probably about ten-years-old, the perfect time for apprenticeship. "Hoark the Haggard's youngest son," he added after Hiccup didn't say anything.

"Yeah, just… okay, Dagger. You're going to do exactly what Gobber had me do on my first day except you're not going to be handling any _hot_ things," Hiccup said. "and especially not ovens," he mumbled, waving Dagger over again. "So what Gobber had me do for the first couple of weeks is just to watch pretty much. Easy as that. Just watch and pick up on things and remember names for tools and other terms and you'll do fine. I'll probably ask you to do little things until I think you're ready to handle the bigger stuff."

"So I just watch?" Dagger asked, his face finally thawing and changing into curiosity.

Hiccup nodded. "And get things when I need them, yes. But the rule," he said seriously. "_don't_ touch the fire doors. I'm much more cautious than Gobber will ever be and I'm not going to have you burn your eyebrows off like mine did, okay?"

Dagger's face somewhat cracked into amusement, his mouth slightly smiling. "Okay."

"Alright," That was easier than expected. Hiccup was expecting to have to explain the reasons why to Dagger but he seemed to get it. "So, for now, I'll have you pump the bellows. You'll get strong from doing that. I didn't, though, so maybe you'll be lucky."

"Okay," And Dagger went over to the bellows and took the handle like Hiccup showed him and lifted it up and down constantly to heat the swords lying on the bed of coals. Hiccup took these swords with pliers and pounded their red forms into shape as Dagger watched simultaneously. Meanwhile, Hiccup showed him some tools and what they were used for as he showed him their purposes on his current subject. Dagger watched him as he poured the molten liquid from the stone bowl into molds for Arnheim's nails, pluck them out and make them sharp on the anvil once they were solid, dunking them, red hot, into the basin of water and to put them on the table to cool, finished. Hiccup cut up more hopeless weapons and put them in the stone bowl to be put back into the midst of the fire to melt again.

Hiccup finished more weapons as the rain cleared up, the clouds rolling past to reveal a rather beautiful view of the sunset. Berk was the prime place for sunsets, and one of the things Hiccup appreciated about the forge was the views it offered, being situated on the cliff. Dagger chuckled a bit form his position on a stool a few feet away when Hiccup got distracted by the view. He blushed and replied, "It's beautiful."

Dagger left not soon after to go home for supper and Hiccup followed suit an hour or two after the sun set. Walking home, he couldn't help but wonder how Astrid's day went and what she did, and was curious to know if she thought as much about him today as he thought of her.

The next day went much the same but Dagger arrived earlier so Hiccup had him set on mostly cleaning the nails. Neither of them spoke through out the day except for very small conversation, mostly just Dagger asking him questions. All Dagger asked was questions, it seemed. Hiccup didn't mind and at first he welcomed it, answering entirely too in depth for a ten-year-old, and once the questions kept coming, Hiccup narrowed his answers down to simple replies in context that a child could understand. Hiccup had not had much exposure to children in all his short years, and this was quickly becoming evident to him. Often times, Hiccup could not answer a question because the only way he could explain was a bit complex for Dagger to understand, and for anyone else, for that matter, even on simple questions. Hiccup learned almost everything he knew by himself at the forge, and that knowledge was almost exclusively his on the entirety of the island.

Within the next two days, however, Dagger's curiosity grew and he asked question after question, seeming to absorb Hiccup responses quite well, to his utter surprise. On Dagger's third day as a blacksmith's apprentice, he began asking questions about math and physics and angles and measurements and a ton of other things.

"How do you know… those things?" Hiccup paused on his last bunch of nails toward the end of the day, holding his hammer in mid air, looking at Dagger across the forge sitting on a stool with a crate of cleaned nails in his lap.

"Well, you talked about them…," he replied a bit quietly, his dark blue eyes twitching left and right nervously.

"When?" Hiccup asked, starting to pick up on Dagger's averted-ness, becoming curiously suspicious.

"On some sheets in your work room," Dagger let his hands fall into the crate, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I looked, I shouldn't have, but I was wondering yesterday when you left quickly to feed Toothless," Dagger said honestly, keeping his eyes from Hiccup in shame.

"It's okay," Hiccup replied softly, feeling bad that he was so beat up about looking at some of his plans. He felt invaded and disrespected, of course, as a master to an apprentice normally would, but Dagger looked genuinely apologetic. The poor kid looked even cute. "If you're so curious, you had to have only asked and I would've been glad to teach you," Hiccup was honestly delighted Dagger was so interested. Finally, he could teach someone the more important things needed in life rather than grunting and chugging down ale and bumping chests.

"You will?" Dagger sat bolt upright like something had prodded him in the back with a hot iron, his voice exceeding excitement standards.

"Of course," Hiccup smiled, chuckling when Dagger did a quiet victory '_yess_!' "But not until the day after tomorrow. I'm taking a day off, but Gobber will be here so you can still come at the same time,"

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Dagger's voice was more uplifted than usual, cleaning the remaining few of the nails.

Hiccup smirked. "None of your business," he closed the doors to the fire and pulled off his gloves. "Now, get out of here, your mother doesn't want you home late again because you're so busy asking questions."

"Did she scare you into saying that?" Dagger asked with a wide smile, setting the crate full of nails on the counter and collecting his cape by the door.

Hiccup snorted. "She's frightening, I'll give her that. I'm too Viking to be scared by women," he said offhandedly as he reached for the broom to sweep some metal scraps off the floor.

Dagger burst out laughing. "Bye, Hiccup," he said as he tossed his cape over his shoulders and left into the light drizzle of the night.

The next day, Hiccup arrived early at the forge to clean off the remaining nails of dust and debris, and then dumped them all into a crate to carry over to the Hofferson's house. He was quiet excited because he hoped he would see Astrid since he hadn't seen her in nearly three days, keeping her only in his most vivid memories, especially feeling her most tender parts in his hand and kissing her so fully he felt like he could have melted into her. She was so raw in his mind she felt tangible and real like he just saw her today.

At the doorstep, Hiccup adjusted the crate of nails on his hip and quickly knocked on the door twice because the crate was quite heavy and slipping from his tunic.

"Just a second!" he heard within, but the voice was indistinguishable because all the Hofferson women pretty much sounded the same to him. He waited a maximum of three seconds while trying to adjust the crate suitably in his arms, but when the door swung open so quickly with Auda standing in the doorway, he spilled almost half the nails onto the front porch.

"Hiccup!" Auda said in surprise, eyes wide at the sudden waterfall of tinkling metal nails.

"Ohh, Gods, oh, no, I'm so sorry, so, so, so, so sorry. Oh, man," Hiccup fumbled nervously, becoming so overwhelmed so quickly he felt that his heart was going to fail. Auda quickly got on her hands and knees and picked up the nails that didn't fall through the floorboards, laughing heartily, which only made Hiccup feel more like an idiot.

Ingrid appeared inside and stood to stare at the sight, laughing with flour on her apron and a spot on her cheek. "Hiccup, spilling the order of nails?" she said jovially as she walked to the open door, crouching to pick up some nails that fell on the threshold.

"I—I—I guess. I'm so sorry, I—I—," he felt like a total fool just standing there with the crate in his arms while Auda scooped up nails into her apron so he set the crate down and hurriedly picked up nails with shaking hands. Oh, Gods, his face was so hot, he must be really red. _Oh, Gods, oh, Gods, right in front of her mother and Auda. Odin's eye_, he thought, cursing his stupendously pathetic life.

"It's okay, no problem at all," Ingrid said as she walked between them and stepped off the porch, lowering herself carefully onto her knees to crawl underneath the porch to get the nails that fell.

"Here, I'll do that, mom. You're too old," Auda said jokingly, pouring the nails form her apron into the crate and going to kneel next to her mother.

"Thank you, dear. My knees aren't as good as they used to be," Ingrid stood up and dusted off her apron and wiped her cheek with the inside of her arm.

"Oh, _Gods_, it's so gross under here!" Auda said with disgust, and through the floorboards, Hiccup could see her blonde hair and the back of her blue dress, crawling. Hiccup picked up the crate again, seriously considering just leaving it here without waiting for the payment, but thought that Gobber would impale him and cart him around the village as the Biggest Idiot Alive. It seemed highly plausible to him at this point.

"U-uhm," Hiccup sputtered, finally finding a secure hold on the crate because he practically held onto it for dear life.

"Oh! Of course. Come inside, Hiccup," Ingrid jumped into action, walking up the porch and gesturing him inside on the threshold.

"Wait! I got some more nails," Auda shouted as she backed up from underneath the porch and stood up, holding the group of five or so nails like a torch in the air. She went to Hiccup and set them in the crate, pushing him inside. "It feels like I haven't seen you in forever, Hiccup! How have you been?" Auda shut the door behind him and continued pushing him to the kitchen. "Psst, don't mention that _one_ night where I got _super_ drunk at the waterhole," she whispered into his ear over his shoulder.

"O-okay," Hiccup whispered back and walked into the kitchen after Ingrid.

"Here, just a second, Hiccup, let me get your payment…," Ingrid said as she pulled up a chair from the table across the floor toward the wall of cupboards. She stood on the chair and reached for a box that she pulled down and stepped down from the chair, setting the box on the table and pulling off the lid. "I think Arnheim said they would be about fifty pennings. Is that right?" Ingrid asked, looking to Hiccup. (4)

He shrugged. "Sounds right," he replied meekly, amazed he was in _Astrid's _house. He looked up at the rafters where spices and herbs hung in neat rows, clumped together and tied, and he spotted some lavender and dried roses on one end. The kitchen was small and a bit crowded but it was comfortable, every surface available used to it's potential, even to the point where the stone around the grate in the hearth had something on it. Pots and pans hung on iron hooks next to oven mitts, and a furry hat next to the outside door was one of the few things left over from winter. The Hofferson's were not wealthy by any means, in fact, they were middle class and being so, it wasn't recommended that Hiccup should even consider courting their youngest daughter._ If it could even be considered that_, Hiccup thought, looking around the kitchen while Ingrid counted out the money. _It isn't even official. I'm not supposed to even _be_ courting her. Parents don't like courting. Duh. _

"Okay, Hiccup, I think that's about right," Ingrid counted the coins on the counter a third time, forgetting her numbers once before. Another thing about Hiccup being chief's son was that he was completely literate and even some middle class people were not. He knew from past experiences that Tuffnut had trouble reading and could only write his name in the cryptic Runes that were quickly becoming outdated. He wasn't sure about Astrid's literacy, but if he were to marry her someday, she would have to learn to read and write.

Wait. _Marry? WHOA, Hiccup! Too, too far. Not even close, _he thought, feeling a familiar floppy feeling in his stomach. _Marry Astrid? _It did sound incredibly appealing, waking up to her every day, being the only man on Berk with the privilege of seeing her beautiful hair down, seeing her with and without her nightgown on… maybe he was being too wishful.

Ingrid slid the money off the counter into her hand and handed it to Hiccup. He knew she was two pennings short but he wasn't going to say anything. "Thank you," he said with a clumsy smile, feeling rather uplifted from five minutes ago when he was falling all over himself.

"No, thank you. I'm sure Arnheim will be very pleased," she replied. Hiccup thought it was a bit strange how she talked about her husband the way she did, like he wasn't even her husband but something more of a roommate.

"Good. I'm glad," he turned to show himself out, but then remembered why he was so excited to come here in the first place. "Is Astrid home?"

Auda was the first to speak. "Nope, she's at Hallbera's. Working on dresses," she said, ripping off a chunk of sweetbread from the counter. "Didn't she tell you?" Auda eyed him like he was supposed to know, but seemed to know something she wasn't supposed to. Hiccup felt a bit nervous, hating the way how Auda made him feel anxious just by looking at him.

"No…," he replied, blinking.

"She's an apprentice to Hallbera now, making dresses and other things," Ingrid said as she opened a cupboard and took down a jar of strawberry jam. "She's been gone from dawn until dusk these last three days so I've had to feed her dragon. I never knew dragons ate so much," she cut off a piece of sweetbread and offered it to Hiccup but he declined, so instead she put some jam on it for herself and ate it.

"Actually, Spike probably needs to be fed about now," Auda wiped her hands on her apron and walked around the counter to take Hiccup's sleeve and drag him to door. "Can you help me carry a fish basket? They're so heavy."

"Can't you—," Hiccup started but Auda cut him off.

"No," and she pulled him out the door and brought him to the cellar. "I need to talk to you," she said as soon as the door slammed shut behind them leading inside, looking at him seriously with her bright green eyes.

_Oh, this can't be good_, Hiccup thought and Auda pulled the doors to cellar open. Hiccup was impervious to the smell of fish now after feeding Toothless and so many other dragons about a thousand times, walking down the steps to haul a fish basket onto his back like it was nothing. Auda waited for him just outside the cellar, covering her nose, and once Hiccup was out, she used her foot to slam the doors shut.

"This way," she said over her shoulder and led him to the barn fifty yards behind the house through a field of grass meant for the pigs the Hoffersons used to own, passing huddles of chicken coops as well.

Inside the barn, Spike was just waking up from an early morning nap, and when Hiccup and Auda came in, she seemed to sigh in disappointment even with Hiccup carrying a fish basket. Hiccup set it down and knocked it over with his foot to have the fish spill out. He looked to Auda, who had her face scrunched up from the sick noise the fish made as they spilled out. He looked at her expectantly, wringing his hands together nervously.

"Are you courting my sister?" Auda asked abruptly, catching Hiccup only slightly off-guard for he was only thinking that question hardly five minutes ago.

"I don't know. Maybe. I know I shouldn't, but…," Hiccup replied with a ball in his throat.

"I could honestly give two shits whether you're courting her or not. It's traditional everywhere else, but not here for some reason. Brandan courted me, but of course he never asked Arnheim, so it wasn't entirely official, but he didn't seem to notice. You're supposed to just marry right on the dot here, and I don't get it. But I don't care. Do you like her?" she asked, her eyes sparkling as she set her elbow on her windowsill, holding her chin in her palm, watching Hiccup from one of the empty pig pens now mostly used for storage.

"Yes. A lot," he avoided looking at her, and instead reached out to scratch behind Spike's crown of spikes. Why was she asking him this? It really wasn't any of her business… but then again, he knew Auda to be a bit interrogative since she found him bleeding from a sword gash after being caught in the midst of a classic Irish pub fight.

"Have you talked to Arnheim about it yet?" Auda asked, and Hiccup had to remind himself that Arnheim wasn't her father, even though she was expected to call him so.

"No," Hiccup chuckled and Auda joined in.

"Good. You probably don't want to. If anyone mentions Astrid he'll probably explode in flames," Auda said as she kicked a rock out of the barn.

"Why? Were they in a fight?" Hiccup asked, now completely full of concern, which caught Auda's attention effectively.

"Kind of. Astrid stepped out of line a few nights ago and ran out of the house before he could get her. He still hasn't forgotten," she answered with her eyes lowered. "I didn't see her until supper the next night."

"When was this?" Hiccup paused from scratching Spike, walking toward Auda now with a hundred scenarios racing through his head. _'Before he could get her'? What's that supposed to mean? What did Astrid say that was 'out of line'?_

"About four nights ago, or three. Why?" She furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. Posing like that, it was no wonder she and Astrid were sisters.

"Because I think that was the night she was with me," he replied with a voice that sounded more or less like he was questioning her. He watched as Auda's eyes and mouth flew open like Hiccup just admitted they had done something quite illicit. _Not _that _illicit…_, he thought. "No, no, no! Nothing like that! Not before we were married, never, never, never. Never once has it crossed my mind, nope," he shook his head, blushing, and scratched his jaw nervously. He pretended with all his might that he didn't lie, because _of course_ it has crossed his mind, only about a thousand times. He would not be a boy at eighteen if the act _hadn't_ crossed his mind.

Auda looked at him inquisitively, a sentence clearly forming in her head. "Wait… so do you want to marry her?" a devious grin formed on her face as she took a step toward Hiccup and he got impossibly more red.

"U-uh… marry? What? Noo, I don't want to marry Astrid," he said and waved her off, then realized what he said. "Oh, man, I mean—maybe?—not? In the future? That isn't any where close to—to now? I—I mean, s-she's very… marry-able? Sometimes, when she isn't uh-uhm… beating me up. Yeah," he gave up, realizing he was rambling completely when Auda burst out laughing in the middle of his tirade.

"Don't worry about it, I was only asking to make you uncomfortable," she punched his shoulder, and Hiccup definitely believed they were sisters by the bruise he would find tomorrow. "No guy wants to be asked that. It's funny though."

"Thanks. I appreciate it," Hiccup replied with all the dry sarcasm he could muster within himself.

"Anyway, if you want to find Astrid, she's at Hallbera's. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," Auda said with a wave as she backed out of the barn door. Hiccup watched her go, running back to the house, dumbfounded.

"Okay," he said quietly. Just then, Spike, behind him, squawked at him as if saying 'get out of here, you fool'. "Don't have to tell me twice," her replied with a laugh and left the barn, on his way to see Astrid, finally.

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In three days, Astrid was a little more than halfway done with her first dress. It was a significant feat considering it took her nearly three months to finish Auda's dress in time for her wedding. She spent all possible hours of the day into sewing in the backroom at Hallbera's Clothing Shop, so much so that even Stinkeye and Ranka were amazed. Astrid hadn't even got to the full construction of the emerald green dress yet, pinning sections together to get the embroidery and designs done to save the week-long sewing development of the dress for last. Her fingers had become deft and nimble, impervious to small needle pricks so she didn't need the extra covering of a thimble. Though the tips of her fingers became rough and sore, Astrid was consumed entirely by her thoughts wither her head bowed over her work on her lap. She was unusually quiet while the three other women passed gossip, and sometimes Astrid would listen, but she was thinking about Hiccup most of the time.

Something had possessed him. She was sure of it. One of Loki's lustful demons or Freyr's companions—something had made Hiccup do wonders on her that she couldn't even think of. From bawdy tales during Auda's bath, the women said orgasms were the "greatest thing ever to happen to a woman" but were unfortunately hard to come by sometimes, especially for first-timers. But, they did say one would "die a million little deaths" and that was certainly what Astrid felt. _Well… it was pretty great, but we didn't even have sex. Do fingers count? Oh, Gods, why am I thinking this…. _She squeezed her eyes shut and grimaced, shaking her head with a blush as if to shake the thought loose from her head. _But… it can still happen, can't it?_ The women didn't mention anything about using _fingers_, except she believed she remembered hearing about how mouths felt particularly pleasant. But that was gross. Why would anybody want to do that?

She sighed, stretching her legs and arching against the chair she was sitting in, falling slack like she was a blanket tossed. Thinking was too wearisome. Outside, it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, and it was hot. _What I wouldn't give to go swimming. Naked. Again_, she thought, looking out the wide open window to where she could see a tiny blue sliver of ocean where powerful gusts came, and thank the Gods. Astrid had to shake the neckline of her dress once or twice to cool herself down. The wind that came in from the windows was highly welcomed in the cramped backroom, throwing design papers and shaking the cloth hanging off chairs.

Astrid looked back down at the sad-looking sheet of green cloth sitting in her lap and draping over her sweaty legs, not quite finished, and immediately thought of Hiccup again. _The way he looked at me in the pond… it made me feel uncomfortable, but… it was like he already knew me_, she thought idly, fingering the faux gold-lacquered string she was using to embroider intricate knots along the skirt's hem. _And... when he looked at me briefly after streaking before kissing me… Gods, I swear, he wanted me. The same look, but still so _different_. Hiccup… what are you doing to me?_ She craned her neck backwards to rest her head against the back of the chair, now entirely encompassed to concentrate now.

His soft brown hair in her hands, the subtle scratch of his stubble as he kissed her hard and deep; she could still feel his passion leaking through every pore of his body, transferring and soaking into every fiber of her own; just thinking about it all made her want to do it all over again. _I think I'm starting to want him too. The annoying, scrawny kid he used to be had changed—but has also not changed—into something I want. _She didn't even want his body, just simply his presence. His smile that could put all the most beautiful and loveliest things to shame, the stupid twinkle in his eyes, and the simple essence of Hiccup made Astrid's head spin.

She looked back down to her work, and just then, there was a knock from somewhere up at the front of the store, followed by a familiar voice. "Hello?"

_Hiccup. _

"Hey, uhm…. Hello? H-Hallbera? Excuse me?"

Astrid smiled. _Leave it to Hiccup to be polite._

Hallbera sighed and set down her work, wiping her hands off and walking to the front of the backroom and around the corner to the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying, being all the way on the other end near her set up, but her heart raced excitedly, hoping to hear what she wanted to hear.

Hallbera was back around the corner in two seconds flat, however, she looked oddly white. "Astrid," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Hiccup's here to see you."

The way Hallbera said his name was strange in the least; it was like she choked it out, about to start crying. Astrid cautiously stood up and set the cloth on the table she claimed as hers, and walked toward the front. She was thankful Hallbera gave her a pair of leather flats to wear to avoid the pins, but she didn't fail to notice how the whole room fell silent. Just twenty seconds ago, the women were all laughing, Hallbera especially, but now it suddenly flipped around like a coin.

Astrid shrugged it off for now and went to see Hiccup. He was standing behind the front desk with his back to the curtained-off door when Astrid stepped through, his head raised high to see all the colorful garments hanging around. Astrid stood in the doorway for a moment, admiring just the sight of him. She let go of the curtain behind her and from the swish noise it made, Hiccup turned around and looked at her for a second as if he had been pulled from a dream, and then his mouth stretched into the widest of smiles Astrid could ever hope to see on him.

"Astrid…," he breathed out, his eyes glittering as she walked around the counter. It was like they hadn't seen each other in months, and though it's only been three days, it felt just the same.

"Hiccup!" Astrid threw her arms around his neck, effectively catching him off-guard. He wound his arms around her back, holding her two or three inches off the ground with the strength of it, and buried his nose in the crook between her ear and shoulder. She smelled like the sea wind and sun on flowers, entirely and totally Astrid. He hugged her close and even twisted side to side, keeping her slender form strongly in his arms. He couldn't have been any happier to see her and to have her excited to see him too made his heart soar like a swallow's.

He let her go at long last, sliding down his front until she stood on her feet. Her hands were on his shoulders and his hand ended at her arms, and they just smiled at each other for the briefest and longest of moments before Astrid attacked him again, except with her mouth this time. She pulled his head down to her by his hair, and though it hurt at first because Astrid had always been brash, Hiccup welcomed her and didn't object. Her lips curled against his and he repeated the motion, opening his mouth in tune with hers and tilting his head ever so slightly so he could close his mouth to cup hers. He loved kissing her, probably because she taught him so damn well, but maybe also because she liked it, too.

Just as they were getting started, there was the sound of someone's voice clearing. The two broke apart but Hiccup still kept his head bowed and Astrid kept her body flush against his, and they both turned their heads to face the intruder. It was a mother with a child on her hip looking rather disdainful and her slit eyes pierced holes through them with her mouth in a disapproving line. She looked at them as if they were the scum of the earth, and neither Hiccup nor Astrid could help the embarrassing blush from spilling onto their faces. Hiccup let his arms slip from where they unknowingly wrapped around her shoulders and stood up straight. He tried taking a step away from Astrid but she pulled him to her by the collar of his tunic and remained, and she even had the audacity to smile at the woman. The mother rolled her eyes and scoffed, walking to the other end of the store with her oblivious child still on her hip, sucking his thumb.

"You're crazy," Hiccup said after watching the woman go.

"Sometimes," she smiled proudly up at Hiccup and he soared even higher knowing she was smiling for him. "So? You came to see me?" Hiccup didn't fail to notice the slight bragging tone in her voice, becoming increasingly more confident as his eyes lingered across her face.

"Yeah, I, uh, have a question… to ask… you," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Hiccup could quite possibly never lose his awkwardness, but Astrid was finding it to be cute, so she could get used to it.

"_Aaand_?" her fist unwound from his tunic and her fingers began tickling the hollow of his throat and upwards on his neck where the russet-colored whiskers began to grow.

"And, I was wondering if you'd like to go for a ride?"

Astrid nodded, biting her lip. "Can I bring Spike, though? She's been practically begging me to take her for a flight."

"Of course, I can't see why not," His hands moved to rest on her hips where his own fingers started to stroke the soft light blue fabric without really thinking about it.

"Great," she beamed at him. "I have to talk to Hallbera, so I'll meet you at Oddr's Rock."

"Okay," Hiccup said softly and reluctantly let her go, waiting until the she disappeared behind the deep red curtain.

On his way home, Hiccup found Toothless sprawled out on a hill in front of the chief's house, snoozing away and looking awfully comfy. "Tooothless," Hiccup spoke quietly as he walked up to his happily napping friend. "Hey, buddy, wake up," he crouched and scratched behind Toothless' ear plate.

Toothless grumbled deep in his throat and turned away from him, still moody from Hiccup's lack of attention these last few days. "We're going for a ride. With Astrid," Toothless awoke immediately after than, sitting on his hind legs. "Great! Are you ready?" Toothless nodded his head. "No, are you, _ready_?" Hiccup spoke like he was giving a pep talk at a rally, getting into a low fighting stance as if to tackle Toothless. The Night Fury wagged his tail, smiling, and nodded his head faster. "Let's go!" and Hiccup turned swiftly on his heel and ran up the hill to the house, Toothless bounding after him.

"I'm gonna win!" Hiccup cheered in their race to the front door. Unfortunately, Toothless used his tail to knock Hiccup's feet from under him, getting a mouthful of dirt and grass just as he was about to race up the steps. He got on all fours and spit out the earthy mixture and wiped his mouth. "That was a dirty move," he said, glowering at Toothless sitting rather pompously on the doorstep. The dragon tilted his head and eyed him as if to say 'I don't care you jerk, but you look awfully funny'.

"Well, I guess I deserved it…," he sighed and stood up, dusting his front off. "That was still cheap, though," he nudged Toothless while opening the door.

Hiccup dressed his dragon in the complex metal rings and cords and leather, and he couldn't help but feel that same, familiar feeling run through him like static. _You are going to fly_, the tack seemed to tell him, so quietly it was only a whisper in his veins. He tightened the leather straps around Toothless' torso, and he went to stand up in front of his friend, both hands on either side of his jaw.

"We're finally going," he said quietly, and Toothless smiled, his eyes bright from the mid-morning sunlight pouring in through the windows. "Hey, bud, I just wanted to say I'm really, really sorry. I feel horrible. I do," as he spoke, Hiccup gently stroked his scales, genuinely apologetic. "I've been a bad friend to you, and I'm sorry."

Toothless looked at him for a moment, then happily jumped on his fuzzy-faced human boy, sloshing his tongue all around his face in his way of accepting Hiccup's apology. His giant paws on Hiccup's shoulder, Toothless reeled his tongue back in and left Hiccup's face wet and glimmering with his slobber, grinning. Hiccup let out a mighty "Uuuuhck!" and used his arm to wipe off the slobber after Toothless let him go and sat with a wagging tail.

As Hiccup sat up, he couldn't help but grin also, even as the smell of dragon breath and fish filled his nose. "Thank you, Toothless," he said softly, looking way up at his best friend who looked entirely too excited, and he seemed so say, 'you're welcome, now let's _go_'.

"Okay, okay, let's go!" Hiccup hopped up with astounding agility and pulled his vest off the hook on the wall and slid it on, and together boy and dragon raced out the door. Toothless ran down the hill, Hiccup next to him. Hiccup reached over and grabbed the strap of leather behind Toothless' head and pulled himself up onto the saddle. He latched his prosthetic into the stirrup and clicked it just so that the tail fin opened and, just as quick, Toothless flew into the air and in a vertical line, straight up into the sky.

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(4) From my research on Viking-age culture, I didn't find too much on currency. However, after a bit more digging, I found that, I think _most_ of the time, Vikings just cut up what they thought was enough to buy this or that, and these were called 'hacksilver' because they cut it (lol, ironic, huh). They didn't go on face value but went more on weight so there were lots of scales around. Then, I read about penningar and stuff, and though I'm not quite sure, I do believe Vikings used these penningar before the krone or cnut was invented. But, I also read that during the Viking conquest of England, the Mercians and Anglo-Saxons used these things called 'sceattas', which is what I originally used at first but realized it was incorrect, so the Vikings most likely came into contact with these sceattas, but of course, I can't be quite sure. But, the sceattas were around 800-900 AD, and that's about 100-200 years before I set this story in.

I'm a history freak, so pardon the excessive facts, but I wanted to share my findings :) Correct me if I am wrong and I will adjust whatever things I have listed. It's quite confusing, but I'm growing more and more interested in this kind of history. whoop!

A tad bit more info on Arnheim this time, but not enough to really show what I think his character truly is, but just enough for now :) He's definitely one of the more complex characters I have. On that note, I take OC's very seriously, and I rarely like to make them big characters, but for HTTYD, it was necessary because we don't meet the parents, and my story revolves around family as well. Families are important to character development, so take Astrid for example in this context. She's grown to be who she is from her family, just like you and me. Very importante! (Thank you, Psychology class! but I've always believed that) In the case of Auda and Ingrid... they take bigger roles in Astrid's life, and eventually Hiccup's as well (especially Auda and the scene at the Irish pub), so naturally, I had to develop them, but just a heads-up, I don't normally endorse OC's. I don't read fics on here with OC's, and when I do, it's incredibly rare. OC's just make me uncomfortable; it's hard for me to believe them unless the author truly makes me believe them and made them real to me, and that goes with any other story as well. Same thing with Hallbera and Stinkeye and Ranka; I don't want to involve them too much in Astrid's or Hiccup's life, but Hallbera makes a bigger impact later. She's not there to simply be a seamstress master, there's a purpose to her character being. And Dagger. Dagger is important to _Hiccup_ in his development as well. I won't say how.

That's enough foreshadowing for now, I think. Just wanted to get that out of the way! Thanks for reading, and don't be afraid to review! And don't be afraid to leave a long review, either! ;)


	9. Chapter 8

I really like this chapter. It's fun and easy-going and I enjoyed delving deeper into Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. And Hiccup is really terrible with kids. It's pathetic.

NOTE: Please listen to "Negative Capability" by Mark Bradshaw from the movie Bright Star. There's some dialogue in the beginning if you get the full-version, but by about 0:57 the music begins. It's so beautiful, oh my God. I just want to float and swim listening to this song. _Please_, please, please listen!

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Eight

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_It's been way too long_, Hiccup thought, feeling the wind push his hair away from his forehead, squinting his eyes as they watered. _Way too long. _

He and Toothless were miles high, doing quick barrel rolls and spins and twists, and Toothless darted down to the earth accompanied by the unmistakable screech. Since Hiccup and Toothless hadn't flown for at least a week and a half since he came back, Hiccup could see a handful of villagers duck or dive into stalls, throwing their newly bought goods everywhere, screaming, looking up into the sky, see it was only Hiccup, and sigh. He realized now at eighteen, he could still cause havoc even without trying, _just like the good old days_, he thought sarcastically, and then remembered he had to meet Astrid at Oddr's Rock.

In no time at all, he flew to the ledge jutting out of the cliff side where some other younger villagers were hanging out with their respective dragons and their friends, one of the most common hang out places. Oddr's Rock looked over most of the hilly village at the seaside and had been popular to come to for decades; however, it had been dangerous to use the path leading up the cliff. Now, when dragons were in wide use all around the village by people of all ages, it was one of the most popular places to be.

Toothless landed swiftly and just as he did, kids were running up to the duo, screaming "Toothless!" and "Hiccup!"

Toothless liked kids only for the scratchings they gave him, but he knew Hiccup preferred to distance himself from them, so he turned a snooty head. How these kids got up here without killing themselves, Hiccup would never know, but he just wanted to meet Astrid and gogogo.

"Hey, Hiccup, your dragon isn't very nice," one kid said, pouting with chubby fists on his hips.

Before he even thought about it, Hiccup said, "Toothless has a good nose, so maybe you smell bad," Just as the comment left his mouth he flushed because he knew it was mean and he didn't mean it. It just sort of happened. With Dagger, it was so easy because he was actually smart, but when a dragon turns his head, it should obviously mean he doesn't want to be touched or the person smells. _Ugh. _And, Astrid appeared with her Nadder, too, so Hiccup prayed she wouldn't pummel him.

"Hey!" the boy of only about eight shouted, his face fallen but an angry red. "I don't _smell_! I took a bath _yesterday_!"

"I—I didn't mean it!—," but his retort was masked by the boy coming up and punching the side of his thigh where it really hurt. "Ow! I'm sorry!"

"What's going on?" Astrid asked, coming up next to Toothless and Hiccup. Hiccup was about to jump to leaving, but the boy shouted first.

"Hiccup said I smelled bad!"

"Yeah, he did!" one child chimed in, not helping Hiccup's desperate cause at all.

Astrid looked over at him with his head lowered, red as a tomato and rubbing his thigh in utter defeat. "Did you say he smelled bad, Hiccup?" Astrid asked in a rather serious tone, and Hiccup was surprised she even cared at all.

"Yes, but I didn't mean anything by it. I thought th-that maybe Toothless was thinking that, a-and he just punched me and it really hurt," Hiccup replied with shifting eyes, refusing to look Astrid in the face. She sighed, finding it the least opportune time for Hiccup to act like a six-year-old getting caught writing all over the wall, _and_ getting into a tiff with a boy who was half his age. _He's so immature, dear Gods,_ Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Apologize, Hiccup, and we can go," Astrid said in a weary tone despite it being mid-morning.

"I'm sorry, little kid," Hiccup said, slouching in his saddle. The boy stuck his tongue out and turned away to his friends briefly to take high fives.

"Okay, let's go now," Astrid said and she was off without waiting for a reply. The boy turned at the noise of flapping wings, and now that Astrid couldn't see him, Hiccup stuck his own tongue out at him and quickly flew after Astrid. He felt much triumphed.

Hiccup shot past Astrid, a very cocky move on her part, so she chose to loop upward and then down again to glide just along the tops of the trees. Oh, how she missed this. The thrill of flying running through her veins ran anew, livening up her soul as if it had been hibernating very deeply for quiet some time. She grinned against the wind, all her hair over her shoulders and quivering as she flew faster, crouching just behind Spike's pointed crown of spears. Hiccup and Toothless were to her left suddenly, and with a grin and quick wave from Hiccup, they banked sideways and disappeared into the trees.

Astrid laughed, looking over her shoulder as they fell behind her. She would have loved to have ducked into the trees, but Spike was not built for quick turns and maneuvering like Toothless was; Spike was mostly a glider and a diver and Astrid liked that. After her first flight, ever, on Toothless, quick spins and twists made her extremely queasy and she did not like it much at all, so she thought it was a perfect match between her and Spike. Despite her slight bulky-ness, Spike could go pretty fast, though not as fast as Toothless of course, but that was only because he was built for that sort of thing.

Astrid pulled Spike upward, digging her heels into her sides a little to pick up speed, and just as she did so, Hiccup and Toothless popped out of the forest. Branches fell behind them as they flew so high they were only a speck amongst the vast array of blue. Then, they were down again to join Astrid and Spike, Hiccup grinning like a madman and Toothless nearly looking the same.

She laughed and said. "Are you trying to show off?"

Hiccup shrugged, a confident glint in his eyes. "Only a little," and he was off again, spinning like a top toward the earth. He was such a boy, Astrid decided, but she liked confidence in him. It was how he was meant to be, not shy and stuttering… but she liked that, too. She liked all sides of him. _Yes. Sounds about right_, she thought with a smile, lifting her face to the sun.

After a bit, Hiccup relaxed and flew around Astrid more, but still broke out into tricks he wanted to show Astrid because they were 'just so cool'. They talked a bit, but both of them were mostly quiet, simply enjoying the rush flying gave them both, however secretly they tried to hide it. It had been so long.

After a couple of hours flying around the island, Hiccup wanted to take Astrid to one of his favorite places he missed seeing after two years of his absence. The place was on the opposite side from the village, only about a twenty minute's flight, and Hiccup was nearly jumping in his saddle. Toothless growled at him to relax, but Hiccup whispered back, "I'm too excited, bud. I think she'll like it."

His voice carried on the wind even though he whispered it right into Toothless' ear and Astrid heard it, though just barely. She wanted to laugh because he was being so childish, but she found it oddly endearing he was excited to show her something so menial. It was… cute. _Cute._ Astrid never thought she would never use that word, ever, in her lifetime. Cute was such a girly word, but it described Hiccup pretty well right now, and right now, she wanted to just kiss him. So yes, he was cute. Awfully goddamned cute.

"It's right here!" Hiccup shouted over the wind rushing past their ears and descended. Astrid followed suit, and swerving around a mountain, she could see part of the coastline scooped out, a smaller bay that had a narrow opening to the ocean. She had never seen it before, probably because from far up above it looked like the rest of the coast, and trying to sort through her memories to recollect as they flew to a strip of sand, she had never heard of this place either.

Hiccup landed first and hopped off, and just as he did Toothless fell over, panting. Hiccup threw off his vest and said, "It's so hot!"

Astrid and Spike landed swiftly and Astrid lifted her leg over onto one side of Spike's neck. She lowered her head and Astrid slid off, wide eyed and bushy-tailed. "It's beautiful, I don't know what you're talking about," she put her hands on her hips and spike waddled over with Toothless dragging behind her to some shade beneath the overhanging trees.

"The weather? Or this place?" Astrid was looking all around the bay with sparkling eyes, but he just complained about the weather, so he couldn't quite tell what she was referencing. He was really hoping it was the former though because that would be _so cool_.

Astrid shrugged as if deciding, then grinned at him. "Both."

"Really?" Hiccup tried sounding a bit alarmed, but he really came off like a little boy about to get some candy. He had no idea why he was so excitable today. Maybe it was because he gets to spend _all _day with Astrid, or he got to fly for the first time in two weeks. Probably both because he was spilling all over himself.

"Mhm. It's rather… pretty," 'Pretty' tasted funny on her tongue just like 'cute' did, but it fit the scene quite well. The bay was lined with tall pine trees and sand, and in the middle were large boulders covered with grasses and moss. The mountain was just behind them and it cast a shadow on a decent quarter of the bay, and it made Astrid feel very small to it. The water was a lighter green than the ocean just through the channel, and from it, she could a bit of the ocean.

"I came here a lot to sketch a long time back," Hiccup said, now only a few feet away from her. "So it's been awhile."

Something in Astrid wanted to be closer to him, but she needed an excuse to because she couldn't just waltz up to him and grab his arm like she's seen preteen girls do. She's older and a lot more cunning than they are, though not by much because Astrid never had to have excuses to flirt with anyone before. Thinking about it, she never had to flirt with anybody, so this whole thing was new. But it was _fun_.

Astrid bent and crouched to pick up a shell next to her sand covered toes. It was a small cowry shell, barely the length of her smallest finger. She stood and carried it over to Hiccup, swiping the sand off the smooth and brown-dotted surface of the domed back. "There are shells here. You hardly find them back at the village," she said just above a whisper. With his head lowered like it was, she could feel his hair tickling her temple, smelling as fresh as the sea but musty like the forest with a heavy dose of pine. He smelled just like the island on which he lived and the forest that covered it and Astrid wanted him.

She first felt the pull of her stomach just behind her navel and then that foreign burning feeling she had between her legs. She remembered it well and fondly, just three nights ago where she felt so good she thought she could fly, only her and Hiccup together. Her throat constricted as she imagined herself dropping the shell and kissing him so hard she could have melted into him and he would wind his arms around her and hold her tight and kiss her back. She imagined him running his fingers through her hair and she would kiss his neck and jaw as he lowered her to the sand and have her right then and there, in this beautiful bay with the sun rising higher and her want for him just the same.

It hit Astrid like a rock when she realized she wanted to have him in his entirety, nothing more and nothing less, just all of him. She feared she might become to love him.

"Come over here with me. I want to sketch you," Hiccup said quietly with an easy smile and took her hand that was not holding the shell.

"Okay," she breathed out, feeling her heart race as he led her to a large patch of grass underneath an equally large overhanging tree. He was holding her hand and she couldn't believe she had not fainted yet because she feared she seriously would. She just imagined her and Hiccup having sex, for the Gods' sakes. He's hardly been back three weeks! _What am I thinking? It's Hiccup. I might have a little crush on him, that's all. Nothing like… having sex. Fuck, Astrid, calm yourself down. You guys aren't doing to do anything, he's just going to sketch you, not touch you like a fucking God… no! Stop it. You're crazy. It's a crush. Nothing else. Fuck. _

Hiccup sat Astrid down right on the edge of the shadow and he sat a foot across from her, and to her amazement, procured a small brown leather sketchbook and charcoal pencil. "Where did you get that? I didn't see you carrying it before," she asked.

"Oh, I had it in this little pouch thing at the back of my saddle. I put it in there this morning. I don't go anywhere without it," he said with his face lowered, flipping through the pages to a clean one.

"It's new," Astrid observed, remembering the one he used before that was old and black and mostly filled up. This one had whiter pages and he was only in the first quarter of the book.

"That old one I had, I had to sell for money," he smiled and began sketching her. "I was in the Faroes and I sketched people for money—which I did everywhere I went—and this man came up to me and asked to see some examples so he 'knew his money's worth'," Hiccup repeated in a strange accent that made Astrid giggle. "and he saw some pictures, looked through them, and came upon the ones I had of you. He called you beautiful and asked to buy the whole sketchbook," That caught Astrid off-guard. She sat straight and looked surprised at him, and was pleased to see him blushing. He kept looking at his sketchbook, though, and continued. "He offered what I think equals to one hundred and fifty penningar. I didn't want to sell it, but I literally had no money and that was enough to get me through to Ireland. So, I started up a new one and I finished it, but this one I bought on my way home so I'm not very far in it. This one doesn't have any of you, so I thought today was a perfect opportunity."

Astrid smiled and leaned forward a bit. "You have a good eye. You've gotten better," Of course Hiccup was not far yet, but he was quick and had got most of her features down, and telling from an upside down perspective, it looked damn close to what she looked like.

"Thank you," Hiccup smiled as his hand darted across the page, eyes flicking up now and then to take in another square inch of her appearance. This time, he didn't tell her to stay still, adding to his phenomenal ability, but she still did for the most part.

"Tell me what else you did. Like how did you meet Auda and whatever. What did you teach, where you went, who you talked to," Astrid rattled off, a slight breeze shaking the leaves above them and making their hair dance.

"Well, I just happened to be in a pub when a fight broke out and I got caught in the middle. I had a sword at my waist so one drunk guy thought I did something to him, but I _didn't _and I kept trying to tell him that but he was drunk and wouldn't listen to me, so he slashed at me and cut me right here," he paused at drawing for a moment and traced his scar beneath his tunic where it stretched from where it lined up with his ear beneath his collarbone about an inch until his shoulder. Astrid remembered seeing it at the waterhole, the only part of his shoulder that wasn't covered in freckles, though it was paler than the rest of him, just like the cut on his chin where his stubble didn't grow.

"It went deep and it bled a lot, all the way down my arm until blood dripped off my fingers. But, I don't know, Auda somehow recognized me after I got punched in the face a few times, getting a broken nose and a swollen eye," Astrid _did_ think his nose was a _little_ off-kilter. "I would have fought back had I the full use of my left arm, but I didn't really, and I'm not the best with my right," Hiccup chuckled, remembering the memory. "I did get a few punches in, though. Decked the guy in the face who cut me, and then I think one more but I got my wrist twisted so I pretty much tapped out, but luckily that was when Auda came in and kicked some guy in the crotch and threw a stool over someone's head."

Astrid clutched her stomach and laughed loudly, knowing that to be her sister. "Yeah, it was pretty funny," Hiccup laughed along but kept going with his story. "She pulled me out and held me by the shoulders saying 'Oh my Gods, Hiccup, is that you?' over and over and over and over until I nodded a yes. I got punched around well so I was feeling a bit dizzy, and I had…," he scrunched his face up trying to remember. "I had almost a full tankard of stout. I don't know why I decided to drink, but I did, and I regret it because I could've at lease kept myself from getting into that fight," he said a bit solemnly but didn't let it stop him. "But she took me back to her small place and stitched me up with some classic Irish whiskey," he said in a way that made Astrid laugh. "I hung around at her place for a few weeks and met Brandan and they showed me around Dublin, accompanying me when I gave speeches on the treatment of dragons to translate—or help me say something in English—and whatever, taking me to some popular dragon breeding places, like the major area where Barnacle-backed Spooknoose live. Dublin was probably my favorite place, I would say.

"After that, I traveled south to Galway and Limerick, and spoke there for few weeks—avoided pubs," both of them laughed. "and went to Normandy for a bit but I couldn't speak French or English so turned back around. I skipped over London in England because it was disgusting, went to Scotland, back up through the Faroes and Shetlands and went around the mainland again, to the Meatheads, and then back here."

Astrid nodded, and then furrowed her brows. "So if you can't speak English or Gaelic, how did you get your message across?"

"I always seemed to find someone who could speak Norse. I don't know how, but I did, I guess. I picked up a few phrases, though, don't get me wrong, but I suck at English and I can't really remember. It feels like it was so long ago," he explained and started on a new sketch when he was done with the first, giving Astrid the okay to move, so she lay on her stomach holding her chin in her palm and her elbow in the grass.

"Who did you learn swordplay from? A grand master who made you beg to prove you're worthy?" Astrid smiled, watching him laugh. She could watch him all day.

"No. I went to an island just after the first trip to the Meatheads where these big, huge women made me train forever. They said a woman would never like me if I was so skinny," on impulse, Astrid slapped his knee and smiled. _Awesome_, he thought before continuing. "So they made me train with swords because that was the only weapon I was decent at. I swear to the Gods, they had this mountain, and I ran up it at least twenty times in the five months I was there. That endurance came in handy when Toothless' tail fin broke and we had to run from people who wanted to capture him. The dragons seem to get smaller, generally, when traveling south, but all the bigger dragons hid from people. I had to go searching in caves and stuff to find them. A lot of people were scared of Toothless because he's so huge," Hiccup laughed and looked up when Toothless eyed him from fifty or so yards away.

There was a minute or two of silence as Hiccup sketched around and Astrid watched his hand and fingers move across the page. She exhaled slowly through her nose and rolled over onto her side. "So tell me. Were there any girls you met and liked?" Astrid didn't want to ask because she didn't wan to come off as jealous—she wasn't at all—or possessive, _but there's nothing going on in between us—we're friends_, she thought, but she asked it anyway because she was dying to know. With Hiccup as attractive as he is, he had to have girls on his arm.

_Astrid_, he answered her in his thoughts, but went and actually answered truthfully. "Yeah, but they were intrigued with me like any other foreigner. I could hardly even understand them so it wasn't a big deal anyway," Astrid chuckled, _victory._ "Auda and Brandan wanted to set up a date for me with this Irish girl but Toothless and I left before that could happen."

They laughed again before Astrid replied, jokingly, "Cold feet?"

"No, it's just that I already had someone in mind," he answered casually like it wasn't anything that could potentially make Astrid explode or faint. She instantly blushed and her mouth became fuzzy and all she wanted to do was kiss him or something but he opened his big, glorious mouth and spoke. "You know, Astrid, you're so pretty, but I can't seem to draw you right at all. I can't translate onto the paper. And it's so frustrating because you're so pretty," he ranted like an artist would, knowing his face was red, but he wanted to tell her what he really thought.

Astrid's eyes were downcast suddenly and Hiccup knew she was going to say something she was ashamed of, and he welcomed it because he wanted to see all sides of her and he wanted her to be comfortable with him. She was a human being and had a wide range of emotions and moods, and some, he figured, she would rather hide, like shame. She rolled over to sit up, keeping her eyes away from Hiccup, and he simply watched her move as gracefully and effortlessly as she always had since as long as he could remember.

She offered a practiced and gilded smile that Hiccup saw right through, and said, "It's better than…," _what I see. _She couldn't bring herself to finish. She felt like a total fool. She shouldn't have even opened her mouth. She shouldn't even have to worry about her appearance because she's got everything else going for her; status, skills, friends, and she didn't want this to turn into a stupid pity party! He just complimented her! "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I don't know. They're good. Really good," she sputtered, rubbing her arm to covering her face and playing with her hair to pulling grass out of the ground.

"What? I don't… do you not agree with me? Astrid?" Hiccup said quietly, and the delicate way he said her name made her want to hide under a rock. "Honestly," he added, his eyes moving all over her face to decipher what she was feeling, but trying to read her now was like trying to read a wall.

She groaned. She hated this. _Why did I have to say that? Why did you even start, you idiot? Gods! _Astrid held a chunk of hair over her shoulder and was running her hands along it when she looked at Hiccup, and right then she fell apart. "I'm sorry! I'm so stupid, I don't know why I said that. I mean… it's just… you're the only guy that has actually said it instead of being a big slobbering idiot, chasing after me like a dog… and it's… weird? Not weird in a bad way, just… different. You know?" she looked at Hiccup who stared back blankly, trying to take it all in. "Ugh! Just forget about it. I'm a fool. Keep drawing," she crossed her arms in finality and focused on a particularly interesting blade of grass between them.

Hiccup looked to his sketchbook about to listen to what she said, but felt an incurable need to speak. "You are no fool. You have to be… _insane_ to think you're a fool," Astrid looked up at the animated-ness of his voice, and found she could not look away. "Astrid," he said seriously, leaning closer with his elbows on his knees over his sketchbook. "if you don't think you're not pretty, then you _are_ a fool. You're more than pretty, Astrid, you're beautiful. You're so beautiful, that's why I can't get these sketches to look right—they look like damn sea monsters!" he held up his sketchbook to her face and shook it for emphasis. "They don't compare. Not even close. You're so goddamn beautiful. And I have firmly believed that fact since I was a kid, so that _makes_ it fact," he smiled to prompt her to as well, and he felt so _amazing_ when she cracked a tiny one.

"You're an idiot," Astrid said with a playful glint in her eyes.

"I am, and you are too," Hiccup replied with the same devious glint, feeling so accomplished he got to her.

"Those are not sea monsters," she said just below her regular tone of voice and lunged at him, lip locking. He had his sketchbook and pencil in each hand when he brought his hands up to her back on impulse, but as she pushed him backwards to the grass, he dropped them and forgot about them completely as he kissed her back.

Astrid straddled his stomach and moved her arms that were around his neck to rest her elbows right next to his ears. She just had to kiss him after that. _Oh, wait—_Astrid pulled away briefly to punch his shoulder.

Hiccup laughed. He could honestly say he missed that. "What was that for?" It was almost like a ritual now.

"For calling me an idiot."

"And the kiss?"

"For calling me beautiful," she smiled, and with her hair enveloped around their heads like a golden curtain, her scent of strawberries and rosewater made Hiccup feel like kissing her again; she was so impossibly beautiful.

He raised his head just so to meet her mouth and she kissed him back softly, but just as she began, Hiccup wanted to talk again. "Hey, can this be a date?" he asked excitedly but quietly, just low enough so it was between them, and Astrid had to laugh at him.

"Sure."

"_Yes_," he closed his eyes and waited for his kiss. "My first date."

Hiccup and Astrid mostly made out, but they wrestled too when Hiccup first tried to roll on top and Astrid wouldn't have it. She ended up winning of course and Hiccup gave her a congratulatory kiss, only to catch her on surprise and roll on top. Astrid tried her hand at drawing and threw Hiccup's sketchbook at him when she couldn't draw _him_ right. She rifled through some pages and found some writing she couldn't understand and Hiccup told her it was a new form of writing and said he wasn't very good at it, either.

"I can't even read the Rune-type very well," Astrid said, laying on her stomach next to Hiccup, shoulder to shoulder, looking at his sketchbook in between them.

"Really? You said you read the Dragon Manual."

"Mostly with the help of my dad and Aislin because they're the only two in my family who can read decent. But 'Legs repeated almost every fact there is multiple times so I know it pretty well," Hiccup laughed at that along with her because he knew it to be true.

Once the sun grew higher in the sky and the heat and humidity rose, Astrid dragged Hiccup to the water of the bay to go in. He begged not to go skinny dipping again and Astrid teased him with, "It's okay, we won't, but don't worry, what I saw was pretty good," and she laughed and grinned at him when his face grew red, wading in only far enough to her knees. They collected shells, sometimes throwing them at each other, and once Hiccup filled up his pockets and Astrid's tunic was filled to the brim, they brought their findings over to the tree and laid them out in the sun to dry. Hiccup worried his prosthetic would rust so Astrid offered to dry it for him, but he refused adamantly to even take it off.

"Fine. We'll go for a ride, then," And they did, all around the mountain ten times, doing flips and turns and racing each other, and for some stupid, teenage reason, they thought it would be cool to kiss in flight, on different dragons. Astrid and Spike were flying about a foot and a half about Toothless' wings, which was just enough for the speed they were going, and Astrid kept trying to lean over as far as she could to her left to Hiccup, who was craning his neck and stretching to reach her mouth. To get closer, Astrid hooked her foot around the steering strap behind Spike's horns and put her other foot on the strap around her belly so she was almost sitting sideways.

Unfortunately, the sight of Hiccup's puckering face was too much for her so she burst out laughing, making the saddle and straps slip so she fell on Hiccup and got her kiss, but Spike veered too close for Toothless' liking so he tried veering sideways too but Astrid's foot was still caught in the straps of her saddle. Having gone through a similar situation like this before except his vest buckle came loose, Hiccup pulled out his knife, holding onto Astrid for dear life, and cut the strap of saddle so her foot was free and the four did not have to go on a spinning cyclone of death plummeting to the earth. Hiccup watched her saddle slip off Spike into the dark green blanket of trees quickly coming up on them, lost to them forever.

They were becoming close again to the bay so Toothless took a quick descent to the sand and Astrid flew off and out of Hiccup's arms, rolling into the grass. Hiccup yelled at him, but she was laughing and holding onto her stomach, so Toothless went over and licked her face a hundred times in apology, curling her up in his arms and nuzzling her cheek.

"Thor's Beard, Hiccup. I hope he didn't get to be this cuddly from you," she was still laughing a bit now even with slobber on her face and Hiccup wondered how a girl as amazing as Astrid could ever like a guy like him.

"Oh, no, he stands alone for that one," Toothless seemed to nod in agreement.

After she was out of Toothless' clutches, Hiccup brought her over underneath the tree to check for any injuries even though she said she couldn't feel anything broken. "Sprains hurt, too," he said, checking her elbow and bending it. Astrid rolled her eyes and went along with it, but with his hands checking for bruises on her legs, she couldn't complain, and in fact, she thought she should put herself in danger more often is she could be treated from Hiccup. He didn't abuse his privilege, like a gentleman, and instead put his hands underneath her ears and pulled her head to him to kiss her sweetly and carefully.

"Sorry about your saddle. I can make you a new one," he said and quietly asked her to roll onto her back.

"It's okay. You should rub my back," Before she even asked, Hiccup was on it, his strong hands already doing wonders.

Hiccup looked to the sky pass the trees and saw the sky turning more orange and red every second. "How do you think today went?" he asked, hoping for the best.

Astrid gave a low, approving guttural noise and nodded, a smile prominent on her profile. Hiccup laughed, agreeing. It went quite well for his first date.

A bit later, Hiccup stopped his amazing back rubbing and Astrid rolled over like a limp fish, moaning. "Tomorrow, Hiccup, _tomorrow_," she was being half-serious, but he still laughed and offered a hand to her. She took it, and when he pulled her up, she surprised him with a kiss. "I love kissing you," she said before she knew it. "It's because of your scruff. Don't ever shave it or grow it out or I will kill you."

"I don't doubt that one bit," he said and kissed her nose. "Are you going to ride on Spike or hop on with me and Toothless?"

"I'll ride with Spike," Astrid was already walking over to where their dragons were vegging, leaving Hiccup under the tree.

"Are you sure?" he asked, coming up to walk next to her.

Astrid went ahead and thumped Spike's round side gently to get her to stand, saying nothings to her that Hiccup couldn't hear a few yards away where he was standing next to Toothless, slipping his vest on. Astrid gave him a smirk he found rather sexy and alluring as Spike lowered her head for Astrid to jump on. "I like to live on the wild side," When Spike stood up, Astrid sat with her back straight and head held high, and the way she was smirking down at Hiccup, he could have mistook her for a queen.

They rode back a lot safer this time, no flips or barrel rolls, but Astrid did brag a little, standing briefly between Spike's wings for ten seconds before Hiccup demanded she sit down. He knew now that as long as they knew each other, he would have to reel her back in before he died of a heart attack, and he also knew why she and Ruffnut were best friends: they were both crazy.

Astrid said goodbye to him when they were over the village and he waved goodbye back, and instead of going home, he went to the forge where he immediately started on Astrid's new saddle.

00

Yay! First 'official' date!

May I just say that Hiccup's time in Dublin and how it was his favorite place is totally inspired from my love of Dublin and the experience I had there on my summer trip with my school. Oh my God, you guys, I can't tell you how much I miss Dublin. I miss it soo much! And it makes it even cooler that VIKINGS settled it! AH! That just blows my mind. What a coincidence, right? Hahaha. I love Dublin. I want to go there again someday and go back to Happy Days near Temple Bar and go back to that one pub and have another Guinness and this time actually laugh at the drunk British dudes who had no game, hitting on my friend and I. Shit. You guise. And go back to the Cliffs of Moher and go walking along that one cliff I didn't, and go back to the Aran Islands and take the RIGHT biking path, and I want to actually meet some smoking hot Irish dudes. Holy crap. Irishmen are so sexy. HOOK me UP.

Okay. Just saying that I love Guinness.

Ireland is going to come back in play since the Vikings did settle Dublin and Limerick and Hiccup traveled there, and not simply because I'm Irish and I love it so much. Really, it's not because of that, haha. Hiccup's pub story is my favorite thing in this entire story so far. Really, I just think it's the funniest shit ever because Hiccup would be the LAST person to get caught up in a pub fight. I can't imagine it, but he was there, and to me that's just flippin' hilarious. And Auda kicking major ass just puts the topping on the cupcake. Love it.

Now about the actual chapter, I really did like writing it. I remember the mood I was in too, listening to some Bon Iver and some more slower Sigur Ros songs (I'm going to suggest a Bon Iver song later, so keep that name on your radar) and it was really just relaxing to write, along with Mark Bradshaw. More of a filler chapter, but an important one at that. Astrid is still a bit of a mess, but she's becoming more comfortable with herself and with Hiccup, so I hope I accurately portrayed that. Oh, and about Hiccup punching people... I don't advocate him getting into fights. Really, he's just too much of a pacifist to actually, like, use his sword against somebody, but I think if he had to, or if he was drunk like he was in this case, I think he would punch someone for defense or out of anger. He would feel like a total jerk afterward, but I think he would. Really, though, dudes are soo full of testosterone, even the most feminine dudes have felt like they've wanted to punch something. There's no getting around that. Hiccup isn't a complete pacifist like Buddha or something, and he's a male living in a huge village with big burly men that get into bar fights all the time, so obviously, he's had to have picked up on that from somewhere. If he had to defend something or someone, I totes think he would whip out his sword and pull some badass moves, because, shit, guys, he's _growing up_. He's not exactly wimpy anymore either, but he still retains that vibe about him of course. I hate the idea of him being all wimpy and noodley and stuff all the time. That's so not him. But it is at the same time. If that makes sense.

Tell me what you think! :D

**Anonymous: **

**shunxalice: Oh my! hahaha I love the dialogue! ;) Thank you so much for all those descriptive words about my story! It was really quite lovely, like all your reviews! And actually, I have thought about writing a book, but like all my other 'self-created' stories, I lost interest in it and I moved on D: That's also what happened to like 4 of my other fanfics, which is another sad fact, but I won't give up on this one, I can tell you that! I love HTTYD too much! And this story! :D I'm glad you find my subtle humor funny, too, because most people don't. hahaha. Thanks~!**

**DrizaboneFiction: Thank you so much! Oh my, you are too nice. I can't believe you think my story is that well-written! I am sooo flattered! Really, I'm, like.. bouncing in my seat. Thank you, thank you! :D**

**Anonymous Cool Reader: Thanks for the review! And I know what you mean about the 'saint' thing and I know it means more to the Christian faith, but for lack of a better word and for people to better understand my meaning, I went with saints. The Vikings were pagan up until _about _the beginning of the 11th century, which without coincidence, I have placed this story in to better relate to 'real life' but to still keep it a fantasy-type story. So I think it would make a bit of sense to say 'saint' in description.**


	10. Chapter 9

More fun times which are long overdue. Very, very fun times.

NOTE: Please go visit my profile and take the poll! (And what was up with the 4 reviews I got for last chapter.. D: Not that it's about the review content, but... ya know..)

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Nine

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"Astrid, wake up," Auda shook her younger sister, excitement lacing her words. Astrid blinked her eyes open and before she could even speak, Auda leaned in close and whispered, "Aislin wrote a letter. Come downstairs. And I have something to tell you," Then she was gone, closing Astrid's door behind her with a faint click.

Astrid rolled onto her back, rubbing her eyes. She slept surprisingly well, so she was not angry Auda woke her up from a dream. She sat up and shook herself awake, becoming more anxious to read Aislin's letter because she had not sent one in months. The last one she sent was five months ago and she told her family she was three months pregnant with her second child, saying she thought it was boy because he was 'giving her so much trouble'. Her first daughter is a girl named Ragna and she was about three years old by now, Astrid thought as she walked down the stairs in her chemise and hair a mess. She had not seen Aislin in five years and she missed her beyond belief, so these letters were their family's only grace.

When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to see that Brandan had not left for the oat fields yet, and she instantly blushed realizing what attire she was in. But, it was her house too, so she shrugged and took a piece of soda bread lying on the counter.

"No, we're reading the letter first," Auda told Brandan. "And though you can read it better than all of us, Diddy's gonna read it because it won't sound right if you do."

"Hey," Brandan said, laughing. "I can read jus' like yew garls."

"Not with that accent, you can't," Astrid said with a playful smile and took the letter as her mother and sister laughed. "Okay. Now:

"_Hello my beautiful family! I miss you all so much, it aches, even though we live only an island apart. But it's good here, don't get me wrong, it feels just like home. Kollr is kind to me, but Ragna even less so_," The three women paused to laugh. "_She's turning into Astrid every day. She's tougher than all the boys_," Astrid nodded in victory. "_but, honestly, I just want to have this baby and have it be over with. You would laugh at the sight of me, I'm huge, almost twice my size. The bead creaks when I lay in it_," they laughed again. "_but there's only a month left. If it is a boy (which I really believe so) I will name him Snare, but if it is another girl… Kollr and I haven't decided yet. Kollr is really hoping for a boy, but as she tells me know as I write, that he would be delighted to have all girls like you, mother, and as would I. _

"_As I hear, Auda got married to a Celt? And I also heard that the wedding party was _insane?_ I wish I could have been there, Auds, I really wish, but Kollr didn't want me sailing the way I am. But, I will come to Astrid's crazy wedding when the day comes. You better continue the after-party streak, Diddy, or I will be deeply ashamed. Hah…_"

Astrid read with some difficulties here and there, sometimes stopping to ask Brandan what a word said, but she did pretty well. Aislin went on to talk about some scandals going on over at Meathead Island, some problems she's had concerning Ragna and some funny ones. The letter in all was about five pages of parchment, but her writing was small as to compact as much information as possible.

After the letter was read, everyone took a minute of silence to smile. Especially for the girls, it felt nice to hear from Aislin after five months of no letters or replies. But before anything else could happen, Auda hopped up from her seat at the kitchen table and stood in the center of the kitchen so all eyes were on her.

"I have something to tell you guys. I haven't even told Brandan yet," she smiled, rocking on her feet with her hands folded behind her back. Her hair was falling out of the bun on the back of her head, and though it was shorter than Astrid's, her hair reached to the middle of her back. Twenty-two years old and in her married woman's chemise reaching to her ankles, she looked to be Astrid's age the way she looked.

"What is it, Auda?" Ingrid asked, watching her middle daughter with furrowed brows.

"Okay," she clapped her hands together. "It's been awhile, but—,"

"Lemme guess," Astrid interrupted, swallowing a piece of bread. "You're pregnant."

Auda's face fell and she stopped rocking. "Really, Astrid? Really? Gods, you're so—ugh. But, yes, I'm pregnant."

Ingrid shrieked, throwing her arms in the air, making Astrid jump next to her. "That's GREAT!"

Brandan's eyes were wider than his gaping mouth almost for a full minute as Auda eagerly awaited his reaction. Before he even spoke two words, he jumped up and pulled Auda to him to kiss her hard, lifting her up and spinning her around. Ingrid clapped excitedly, briefly pulled Astrid to a hug, then after Brandan let go of his wife, she went to Auda and hugged her too.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad! I can't believe it!" Ingrid kissed Auda's cheeks, and then went and kissed Brandan, hugged him, and Astrid just stayed out of it. She did not want to be hugged or kissed or even caught in that circle. She didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Auda was pregnant, whoopee, the end. To her, Aislin's letter was more exciting than this, and it was inanimate, just the way she liked most things, like her axe.

"I'm going to Hallbera's now," Astrid said over all the commotion and went upstairs unnoticed. She brushed her hair, changed into a grey-blue tunic, put her fillet and belt on, slipped on her leather flats at the front door, and left while Ingrid and Auda were planning baby-related stuff, Brandan already gone for his day at work.

She said her usual hello's walking into the backroom, sidestepping piles of discarded cloth to the back where there seemed to be a cleanliness barrier keeping her workplace mess-free. Astrid pulled out the emerald green bodice for the dress and the gold-lacquered thread she was using with white to make the flowers. She did not say much again for a few hours until she went home for lunch and to feed Spike, and coming back to continue she did the same thing until the bodice was finished. Astrid got the skirt barely attached before Hallbera kicked her out well after dusk to finally close the shop.

"Once you're an employee, dear, you can stey all you want, but naow, you gotta go," she said with a smile, but Astrid did not give one back, waving goodbye and walking home.

She fed Spike half a basket and filled the water trough for the chickens tomorrow and quietly went back inside. She was not hungry for the plate of food Ingrid set out for her from dinner, but she took a piece of bread and left the kitchen. In the living room, her mother and Auda were sewing some things next to the fire where her father read a book about something. Auda and her mother acknowledged her as she walked up the stairs, but her father did not even take a glance upwards and she could have cared less.

She changed out of her tunic and into her chemise in the light the moon offered through her window. She closed it, but it bounced back and left an inch of silver light seep through but she could not bring herself to care either. She lay in bed and looked up at the ceiling, deciding it had been the most boring and event-less day of her life. Yesterday was outstanding and amazing, but today… it was just like it had been a month ago without Hiccup here.

There was a small tap coming from her window a long while later but she passed it off as the wind moving her shutter and rolled over with her back to it. She closed her eyes and wanted to sleep, adjusting her pillow and snuggling deeper into her bed. There was another tap noise and her eyes flew open. "Goddamn shutter…," she said as she stood up out of bed, but stopped, seeing a pebble on her floor. She went over to her window and pushed it open so fast she could have fallen out and smiled for the first time all day.

Hiccup grinned up at her, looking so small all the way down there. "Hi," he said in a loud whisper.

"Hi," Astrid replied, resting her forearms on the window sill.

"What're you doing?" Hiccup asked, slowly shifting from foot to prosthetic. She thought he looked so lovely and foolish by the way he was smiling, poor idiot.

"Nothing," she grinned so wide her cheeks hurt, really trying not to laugh. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to see what you were doing," he chuckled quietly.

"Climb up. But be quiet about it," Astrid leaned out further and said.

Hiccup furrowed his brows, shocked she was inviting him up into her room. But, he had to climb up was the problem; he was still wobbly on his balance. "A-are you sure?"

"Mhm. Just be quiet, though. It's easy."

"O-okay," he had seen her do it before, so at least he knew the way up. Hiccup went to the barrels next to her front porch and climbed up them. He found a small crevice in the side of her house that he put his foot in and pulled himself up to sit on the roof her front porch. She disappeared just then into her room where she lit some candles. Hiccup stood up carefully and he could just barely see over her window sill into her room, glowing against the darkness. She came back and took his hands and helped pull him over her window into her room as he used his feet to leverage himself in.

He stood once inside, staring for a moment, just looking around. Her ceiling was high, pointed at the middle as it ran along the center length of the house. Two beams went across and on them he could see old and peeling painted swirls and patterns and he even picked out some withered daisies. Her room wasn't too small or too big, but it maintained the coziness and openness at the same time like the rest of her house. There was a gathering of shelves next to her nightstand with old dragon figurines and play toys, some dusty old books, tiny pots with accessories in them. Across, she had a tall dresser with clothes thrown on top (which she was hurriedly putting away), and next to that, a shorter table with a looking-glass and brushes and combs on it, paired with a short wooden stool.

As Hiccup looked around, Astrid made her bed and picked up clothes from the floor, shoving them into a slim closet on the other side of the room and stuffing them into drawers or one single chest next to her dresser. She lit two more candles that were on her vanity, and then went to sit cross legged on her bed, looking at him expectantly. Hiccup lowered his head and noticed her staring at him and he blushed for no particular reason. He couldn't believe he was in Astrid's room; _this is so cool,_ he thought.

"You don't have to look so awkward," Astrid said, watching him.

"Oh… sorry," he mumbled, fidgeting with his hands.

"Sit down, Hiccup. I'm not going to bite your head off just because you're in my room. Which, in fact, I invited you into," she patted the bed and he did sit, but on the opposite end. "And you can look at me, too. I know it's _sooo_ scandalous for you to see me in my pajamas," Astrid said sarcastically with a comforting smile. "but I really don't care. I had the option to change, but I didn't because I'm lazy, for one. So get over it."

Hiccup smiled faintly, then asked, "Can't your parents hear?" he relaxed a little bit, slipping off his boot and leaning against the footboard.

"No, I'm the only one upstairs. Ruff and I will have sleepovers sometimes and we'll be up all night but they won't hear a thing. They sleep like rocks," Astrid waved it off like it was nothing.

Hiccup nodded and continued looking around her room. "Are those the knives I sent you in the wall?" he asked, pointing to where five daggers of different lengths still stuck out like pins.

"Oh, yeah. I have to take those out," Astrid stood up and walked around her bed to the wall across it and yanked them out, leaving noticeable slits in the wood, and some were so deeply lodged she had to wedge it out, pulling some splinters along with it. "What did you do today?" she asked, sliding the last shiny dagger into the leather case carefully and tied it shut.

"Oh, you know, the usual things at the forge. Sharpened stuff, reshaped some. Gobber got a new apprentice after looking for one for years, so I taught him some things. He never stops asking questions," Hiccup laughed at the last part, seeing soft and worn pink flowers on her bedspread. He liked her room a lot. It was simple but comfortable, and a lot cleaner than his cluttered room. Actually, her room seemed impeccably clean, like everything had its place, all things nice and neat. He smiled, finding it to be just like her that her room would be so spotless.

"What's his name? How old is he?" Astrid asked while opening one of her topmost dresser drawers and stowing the bundle of knives away between a few of her undergarments. The knives would not be safe anywhere from her unpredictable mother, but she thought they stood more of a chance in her underwear.

"Dagger, and he's ten. He lives with his father, Hoark, and his mother, Signý, he has two older sisters named Emla and Screech, and no younger siblings. He's beginning to like math and he wants to help me build stuff. He likes working at the forge. His favorite dragons are Zipplebacks, but he owns a Terror named Puddle because, apparently, he pees a lot," both of them laughed. "He also has a cat named Butter who just had kittens and hates Puddle. He wants to get a dog but he can't because his mom's allergic. He really hates moths and the smell of honey but he likes eating it. His favorite color is red because Puddle is red. Hoark's teaching him how to use axes between staying at the forge. Uhm… what else…,"

While Hiccup was talking, Astrid had taken her brush with her to sit down on her bed to brush her hair. "Where did you learn all this?" She laughed, her head tilted to the side.

"Oh, he tells me everything. I swear, he never shuts up. But he's a good listener, he does everything I ask of him and he tries his best. He's a good kid," Hiccup nodded and watched her pull the brush through her long hair. "What did you do today?" she looked so simple and lovely, just brushing her hair in her chemise. It was the little things he loved about her, and they were growing in numbers every day.

"I got so close to finishing my first dress today. I forgot to tell you! So, I have to make four dresses like the one I made for Auda—you didn't see it, but it's really good and it's pretty—by the end of the harvest, and only then will Hallbera accept me as a full apprentice. My mother thinks she will, though, so that's good. Uhm," she lowered the brush and held her hands in her lap, thinking. "I fed Spike. She went out and socialized for once."

Hiccup laughed. "Toothless does the same thing, he never goes out. I had to kick him out of the yard to go hang out with the others."

Astrid grinned. "We have moody dragons, don't we?"

"The moodiest," Hiccup confirmed, but Astrid did not fail to notice the distance in his voice, the distractedness. He fell quiet, but his eyes were livid, completely somewhere else. She was so confused.

"Are you okay?" She asked, furrowing her brows and scooting down her bed to get closer to him.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he offered a smile but Astrid scoffed, clearly unconvinced.

"No, you're not. You're terrible at lying. I should know," she said, referencing his broken promise that she completely forgot about, but she didn't want to talk about that now. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Really. I'm just thinking." He seemed surprised she was so concerned, his eyebrows raising farther into his sheet of bangs.

"About what?" she pried, finding his advertedness from her questions annoying.

"You're gonna laugh at me," he chuckled humorlessly and raked a hand through his hair, his reddening face sparking a furious interest in Astrid. What could make him blush like that?

"No, I won't. Try me. See if I will," she challenged, sitting with her knees under her a foot in front of him, crossing her arms defiantly. He looked at her and sighed. She had an aptitude for making him want to talk without even trying, just her eyes on him seemed to be uncorking his thoughts that he never really talked about, especially the ones he was thinking now.

He swallowed, gathering up his courage. "A-about the other night… at the waterhole," he said quietly, his voice shaking a little as his blush deepened. "I—I shouldn't even be thinking about it, i-it's—,"

"If you're thinking about it, Hiccup, why don't you do something about it?" At the sound of his name, he looked up to find her closer, smirking. Her hand fell to the back of his neck to the flippy ends of his hair and he instinctively kissed her. She flung her arms around his neck as she slowly pushed her backwards onto the bed and suddenly things got very intense. Hands were running over restrictive clothing, fingers got caught in hair, and breathing was hard to come by as they battled each other in rough, ravishing kisses.

Astrid marveled at Hiccup's body even underneath his clothing, her hands never staying in the same place for too long before finding another part of him that she liked even more. He grew more hot every second her small hands ran down his sides or over his back, and with it, he grew more confident as well. He pushed his hands up Astrid's chemise while suckling on a tender spot behind the curve of her jaw, and she gasped pleasantly at the feel of his cool and roughened palms fully on her skin. He reveled in the sweet noise, his fingers tickling the outside of her breasts where they rose from her ribcage.

"Hiccup," Astrid breathed into his ear, one hand in his hair and the other gripping his back, fingers digging into the deep muscle along his spine between his taut shoulder blades.

He lifted his head and took her mouth hungrily with a deep grumbling in his throat that Astrid found very arousing, cupping each one of her small breasts tenderly. He kneaded her nipples with his thumbs and at that, he was quiet pleased when Astrid broke from their kisses and let loose a tight moan and a gasp.

"Wait," she said abruptly. Okay, he was not pleased at that. "Don't you want something?" she asked in halting breaths, but Hiccup could not shake the feeling of dread in his stomach. _Why _would she do that?

"Want what?" he snapped, uncharacteristic of him, but really, he just wanted to do his thing and make her feel happy, and _not _be having this interruption.

She suddenly rolled him over onto his back, his much too eager hands coming out from her thin chemise as she sat on his hips. "What—wh-what are you doing?" he sputtered as she slid off him to kneel between his knees silently. She pushed up the loose bottom of his tunic to access the ties of his pants, and just as she was about to start untying the laces, his hands grabbed hers and held them away. "Astrid—,"

"—Hiccup—,"

"What are you going to do?" his voice shook as he spoke but he managed to keep it somewhat level to not look like such a wuss, looking straight into her eyes as she looked into his.

"I'm going to give you something good because _you_ gave _me_ something good. I grew up being taught to give gifts to those who gave me one, and believe me, not all of them were pleasant, but this one will be," she smiled, assuring him just enough, and Hiccup relaxed a bit, scrunching up his nose, but he didn't let go of her hands just yet.

"You don't have to. I can go without a gift," her hands slipped from his without his permission and took the laces up once again.

"I want to, so shut up and lay down already," she pushed his shoulder away and he listened though _he_ didn't want to. Just the thoughts of the impending future made his head spin and he didn't want to embarrass himself, but he found he wanted it _really_ badly, and it was showing. _Oh, _Gods_, _he thought and swallowed.

"Well, aren't you nice," he stated, covering his eyes with his forearm just as she starting pulling down his pants and underwear.

"No, I am not nice, just grateful," she said with a grin, pulling his pants down just enough to be happily greeted by the full sight of him.

And she didn't know what to do with it all of a sudden.

_Ohh, Gods. Ohh, geez. Ohhhhh, man. T-this is so unc-convenient_, Hiccup thought, biting his lip quite hard, squeezing his eyes shut, and really hoping he could just disappear and live under a rock with Toothless somewhere because this was quickly becoming too awkward to handle. What was she _waiting_ for, for Odin's sakes? She better do something soon before he gets up and runs out of her house because lying totally exposed to the most beautiful girl on Berk isn't exactly as dream-worthy as it seemed in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, his hands in tight fists, but ended up squeaking out a gasp at the touch of her fingers around the base of him.

Going to Auda's ritual bath was actually incredibly beneficial because she remembered almost every sexual-related thing the women mentioned (though at the time she wanted to gag), but her memory was suddenly wiped clean. She didn't want Hiccup getting too flustered waiting because she knew he would, so to get her memory going, she touched the russet-gathering of hair which she hoped would relax him a bit because she also knew boys' minds were very groin-centric, her knowledge gained from growing up with Tuffnut and Snotlout. Gingerly, Astrid traced her fingers up his prominent length, which made him twitch uncomfortably.

"Don't tickle," he said with a quiet, hard, but uneasy, voice, his eyes still covered to only show his mouth and the stubble-covered underside of his chin.

"Oh, sorry. That tickles?" Astrid asked incredulously, wrapping her hand around him gently.

"Yes. Very—much—oh," he grumbled when she pumped her hand once experimentally. Astrid took his feedback and did it again, but she was torn because she remembered hearing that the skin there was really sensitive but she thought her hand was too loose for him.

And, in a frantic state, she could only remember one other thing that was supposed to feel really good. _Uh… okay. Here goes. _She dipped her head, holding around his base, and enveloped her mouth around him.

"_Ohoh_," Hiccup sighed, surprised, but melted into the pillows and mattress. Then—"Teeth—TEETH!" he shouted coarsely and Astrid immediately corrected her motions, sucking ever so gently and tracing her tongue just underneath the pink ridge near his tip, making his toes curl. He removed his arm from his face but his eyes were still closed but not squeezing tight, and his hand found the top of her head. He kneaded her soft hair between his fingers, some of the strands tickling what exposed of his legs and sending shivers up his spine and down his legs to his toes as he quietly moaned, reveling in the wet sensation that he imagined must feel like another wet place. _Oh, fuck—,_ he thought, and just the thoughts were enough. He loved her cute little mouth, but he did not know he could love it like this.

He blinked his eyes open and looked down the length of his nose down his heaving chest to see her blonde head dipping and rising just so, and seeing that with feeling what she was doing, Hiccup's sexually-deprived mind was pretty much blown out of the water, entirely. Her hand pumped gently while her tongue was slowly sliding all over the place, up and down, down and up, and, _oh, sweet Valhalla, _she was amazing. So goddamn amazing. Where the Hel did she learn this? Where did she even hear about it? How? What? Why? _How_?

It certainly was not long before Hiccup could feel himself pulse, more than ready after holding back for a minute or two. "A-Astrid, I-I'mmmmaaaa c-cloooose."

"Mmm?" she hummed, and that was what sent Hiccup over the top of a peak he's never traveled and would _love _to again, biting his lip and letting loose a deep guttural moan. Unfortunately, she caught his fluids in her mouth and she instinctively gagged, raising her head with an arousing string of saliva from her lip to the tip of him, at least Hiccup thought so. She swallowed, cringing and grimacing like she just swallowed her own vomit, shaking her head. Astrid sat on her heels and watched Hiccup's breathing slow, at least pleased that she did a good performance, even if the end result was more than disgusting.

After a few slow seconds, Hiccup pulled himself up, feeling his muscles had turned to complete mush. He smiled lazily and pulled his pants up, kissing her cheek. "So?" Astrid asked as he pulled her with him to lay down again.

"It was… awesome," he let the word sink in, chuckling. "That hum thing you did… oh, man," he said throatily, tired, but still awake.

"Oh? Good," Astrid grinned and laid her head on his chest, her arm tossed over his stomach, laying her full length against him. She listened to his heart beat slow while he played with her hair, lifting up small clumps and running his fingers along it and letting it drop to pick up another piece. It was quiet for a long time, both of them thinking themselves into oblivion in each others company, simply lying together. Astrid listened to his steady heartbeat and with his gentle hands on her hair, she could have fell asleep right there with Hiccup and she would have been totally fine with it. She would be more than fine, she would be happy.

After awhile, she lifted her head and held it up with her palm, adjusting so she could see his face. Hiccup opened one eye and smiled wearily. "Hello, there," he said just above a whisper, and Astrid smiled back, placing her hand on his cheek and stroking it a few times with her thumb. He closed his eye and leaned into her hand, then took her wrist gingerly and kissed the inside of it softly.

"I really like you," Astrid whispered, watching him kiss her palm tenderly.

"I'm glad," he mumbled against her skin, flipping her hand over to kiss each scarred knuckle.

That irked Astrid a bit. He was supposed to say he liked her back, the jerk. "Are you?" she took her hand back and brought it into a fist, ready to punch him. She just said something very important and deep,_ he better have a damn good reply,_ she thought, narrowing her eyes.

Hiccup was not phased. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be glad when the girl I've liked for years says she likes me back? I'm elated, happy, even. I haven't been happy like this in a long time," he replied calmly and slowly, sure of his answer as if he's practiced it a million times, which he has, but he did a good job of not making it seem that way. He watched Astrid through his thick eyelashes, seeing her visibly deflate, the anger she pointlessly built up leave her just as quickly as it came like a gust of wind had blown it out of her in the cool night of her room.

"Oh," she breathed out, lowering her eyes, thinking. "When did you start?" she asked sheepishly, bending her arm and resting her head in the crook of her elbow.

Hiccup sighed, looking up to her ceiling. If he actually told her that he had been totally in love with her since they were nine, she might find him a bit crazy, so he chose a better, less-crazy answer. "It's been years. I can't remember exactly, but I've liked you for a long time."

Astrid was definitely taken aback, her eyes widening and her brows raising, accompanied by a lovely pink to her cheeks. "Wow," she sighed, looking around to her headboard to take it all in. _He's liked me all this time, even after all the shit I've gave him. Through everything, he's never stopped. Wow. He's… he's phenomenal. Stubborn, but phenomenal. _She smiled, her eyes twinkling as she looked at him. "I'm crazy," she said as if saying 'you think you can handle this?' Hiccup smiled back and shrugged.

"I think I've proven I can handle it. You're not as crazy as Ruffnut, after all," he chuckled and Astrid guffawed, agreeing whole-heartedly.

"I get extremely emotional sometimes, especially around my time of the month. I might just rip your face off one day."

"Eh. I have bandages. I'm not scared," she raised her eyebrows further. "Okay, maybe a little. It's nothing I can't take, though. I've already lost most of my leg, what's a face going to do?" he chuckled when she swatted his shoulder.

"I don't think you can. I'm pretty vicious."

"Ohh, I think I can. I'll prove it."

"Are you ready?" Astrid propped herself up onto her elbow and hovered over his face, her expression playfully serious.

"I'm so ready," he wiggled his eyebrows and Astrid giggled before lowering her head and kissing him full on the mouth.

00

The next day at Hallbera's, Astrid was quietly sewing the skirt to the bodice she just finished when there was a small but noticeable tap at the window nearest her. She looked up, expecting to see someone there, but she only saw the wall of the building next to theirs across the alleyway through the window. Then, squinting her eyes against the silvery light from the blanket of clouds, she saw a piece of folded up parchment with something lying on top of it on the window sill. Becoming increasingly curious, she set down her work and walked over to the window.

"What is it?" Ranka asked, her brows furrowed in interest from her spot at the table in the middle of the room. However, her question fell on deaf ears when Astrid picked up the things laying on top of the parchment were shells, ones that she and Hiccup collected the other day. Her heart racing, she grinned and bit her lip excitedly as she unfolded the parchment.

It was a page torn from his sketchbook of the little thumbnails he drew of her at the bay, and some she didn't even know he drew. Marveling at them, she didn't even notice Stinkeye had crept up behind her until she giggled loudly into her ear.

"Ooh, Astrid's got a boyfrieeeend!" Stinkeye said in a sing-song voice, laughing harder when Astrid flushed and pushed her away.

"I do not have a boyfriend," she said sternly but it was hard to keep the smile off her face, toying with the thought.

"It's from Hiccup, isn't it? He came bay the other day and you left smiling," Ranka said, joining in teasing Astrid.

"Oh, it's totally from Hiccup. I saw his name at the bottom," Stinkeye giggled and waddled back over to the table, her baby bump only slight but enough to make her lean back some to keep her balance.

"So what if it's from Hiccup?" Astrid countered, smiling deviously because Stinkeye failed to notice what it said above his name:

_Waterhole tonight?_

_Hiccup_

"He's got a major crush on you," Stinkeye said. She was only five years younger than Ranka, about Auda's age, so she was more into this boy stuff than Ranka was even though she was married.

"I know," Astrid replied, smiling and folding the parchment back up and putting it with the shells into her pocket, going back to work. She looked across the room where Hallbera had her head lowered, not even the ghosting of a happy expression on her usually bright face. Astrid could only wonder what was on her mind, shoving the needle through the fabric and making knots to secure the string tightly. _I wonder if it has to do with Hiccup at all. She did the same thing when he came here the other day. She looked like she saw a draugr. _

Once dusk arrived, Astrid was halfway done attaching the skirt to the finished upper half of the dress. She went home and ate dinner while her mother and Auda jabbered the entire time, but it was tension-free since her father had stayed late at the warehouse to supervise the finishing of some new ships. Afterward, she feigned tiredness and bid everyone goodnight, but instead of actually going to bed she climbed out her window and ran toward the forest in the direction of the waterhole.

At least until the female Thorston twin stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut bellowed from her doorstep, dropping the basket of clothes on her hip and letting the contents spill all over the steps as she ran toward her friend.

_Oh, shit_, Astrid sighed, knowing now that she and Hiccup would not be alone tonight.

"Where have you been?" Ruffnut demanded with her fists on narrow hips, sounding very much like her mother. "I haven't seen you in, what, two weeks? Geez, ya just drop me like an apple to go chasing after Hiccup, don't you? Giving him juicy smooches?"

"Huh?" Astrid said blankly, curling the corner of her upper lip.

Ruffnut's mouth dropped a bit. "Are you stupid now? It's obvious you two have been hanging on each other like… like…,"

"Like what?" Astrid challenged, crossing her arms and raising a thin brow.

"I don't know!" she burst. "But I'm mad at you."

"Why? What did I do?" Astrid asked incredulously.

"For not talking to me," Ruffnut pursed her lips, her arms crossed as well, and cocked a defensive hip.

"I've been busy!"

"With Hiccup!"

Astrid let her mouth drop this time. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, then a thought came to her head. "Are you jealous that I'm 'busy with Hiccup'?"

"No, I'm not jealous!" Ruffnut barked back, but the dimming light did not fail to hide her pink blush. Astrid smirked and raised her brows higher, and Ruffnut shoved her a bit. "No, really. Shut up! I've 'been busy', too."

"Oh?" Astrid inquired.

"I'm not going to tell you right now," Ruffnut grinned back, glad to know something she didn't. "Where are you going? I'm bored," she looked expectantly at Astrid with wide eyes and she knew there was no way to get out of her grasp now.

"The swimming hole," Astrid said on the banks of a sigh. Oh, well. She hadn't seen Ruffnut in a while and she found herself missing her crazy antics.

"Oh!" Ruffnut burst. "Didja hear about the streakers? Apparently there were these two kids a few days ago who streaked through the village. Fishlegs' dad saw 'em. I want to go streaking! How awesome would that be? Tuff said he wanted to go, too, but that would be kind of weird if we went at the same time, you know? Oh, you know what, I'm gonna come with you to see if they come again because they ran in the direction of the swimming hole—,"

"No, that's okay—,"

"—because I will totally join them streaking if they do. I'm gonna get Tuff!"

"No, Ruff, it's—," Astrid threw a hand up in exasperation when Ruff turned and darted into her house, finding it completely futile now to stop the force that was Ruffnut Thorston.

She brought out Tuffnut, who just _had_ to get Snotlout, and the two decided it wouldn't be complete without Fishlegs to join them at the swimming hole. Astrid walked behind the four of them on the way, grumbling temperamentally with her arms tightly crossed. She did _not_ want this to happen. She just wanted to be with Hiccup, _alone_, maybe skinny dip and _get some_. That was all she wanted to do, but no. She _had_ to run into Ruffnut and she _had_ to gather up the whole group. Of course. Things _never_ went according to plan.

"Oh… hi… guys," Hiccup said when everyone arrived chattering, his heart sinking. He saw Astrid looking like she was about to explode in flames and he immediately understood what happened. He smiled softly and went up to her after everyone greeted him back, walking past him to the stretch of sand down an old grassy staircase built into the hill. She had her arms crossed like metalwork when he went up to her to hug her briefly, whispering into her hair, "It's alright. There are plenty of other nights."

"But I wanted to be with _you_," she grumbled into his shoulder, sounding like a spoiled and disappointed little girl. Hiccup was totally flattered, otherwise, and even though he was disappointed too, he wanted her to at least enjoy the night.

He kissed her forehead and dug her hand out form the crook of her arm. "We'll have fun. C'mon," he cocked his head to where everybody was already wading in, except for Tuffnut because he was climbing a tall overhanging tree to jump in.

It took a bit of work for Astrid to get less grumpy from the others, but Hiccup did it effortlessly within twenty minutes. Soon she was participating in games Snotlout proposed, beating him in trying to push him off a log caught on top of two large boulders above the pond. They were all challenging each other to see who could do the coolest tricks jumping off boulders into the deepest part of the pond, and Hiccup judged because he couldn't exactly climb up, but Astrid knew he didn't want to show his leg a second time even though his pants just barely hid it. Hiccup gave the winning prize to Astrid, even though there was no prize.

"You only let her win because you _liiiike_ her," Tuffnut teased, but he really did want to win.

"Hey, she did two full flips. You did one and a half," Hiccup grinned and Snotlout 'ooooh'd'. He had to, of course, give the best cannonball splash to Fishlegs after he sprinkled him twenty feet away. Tuffnut was determined to win something, so he jumped from the boulder and tried doing some twisting, flipping move, but he ended up falling fifteen feet onto his side.

"Oww!" Astrid said along with everyone else watching, sitting next to Hiccup on a rock.

Tuffnut burst through the water in a couple of suspenseful seconds, yelling, "I am hurt! Owww, I am very much hurt!"

"Hah, you idiot! You looked like some flapping hawk or something," Snotlout chortled. Ruffnut cackled and agreed.

"Were you trying to fly? Because I'm sure you could have if you jumped a little farther then you arms would have propelled you upwards," Fishlegs seconded, earning a couple of approving laughs.

"No, you assholes!" Tuffnut called back, pulling up onto a rock to rub his side, only causing more laughs from the group.

Astrid watched Hiccup carefully for awhile, taking notice of his calculated movements, cautious to not show too much of his upper body or pull his leg out of the water, and sometimes she could see him forming his words in his head. She knew what he was doing right away, she's seen countless girls do it and it disheartened her to see Hiccup still so self-conscious around their friends.

While Snotlout was telling a story and exchanging banter with Tuffnut and Fishlegs, and when Astrid was positive all attention was off them, she leaned very close to Hiccup, her mouth just touching his ear to say, "Don't be scared," She laid her hand over his on his knee and offered him a gentle smile, and Hiccup looked at her with eyes that made him look young and small again, every bit of his boyish fears flitting in his expression.

"I can't help it," he whispered back, feeling ashamed that she could figure him out so easily.

"It's okay. Nobody here sees your leg as anything different, or anyone else. It's a part of you."

"I don't want it to be," his was so absurdly quiet Astrid had to lean in again just to hear him.

Glancing through the corner of her eye to their friends to see if they were looking, she placed a wet hand on his cheek to direct his face so she could see him entirely. With determination and deep sincerity in her eyes, unwavering, she said, "You're going to have to accept it, Hiccup. I've accepted it as a part of you and it hasn't changed what I've thought. I still feel…," she thought of a word to say. "deeply for you. And I want you to know that. I like all of you, no matter what you say, so just buck up," Astrid blushed, finding that after her confession, her pep talk fell away as she started scrambling for words, so she fell to the typical Viking fall back of tough love. She wanted to explain to Hiccup in soft words that he could understand because Hiccup was just like that and tough love never worked too well for him in the past, but, alas, Astrid did not grow up with soft words. With a subtle start to her heart, she realized she knew Hiccup better than she thought, just like the back of her hand.

He averted his gaze away from her to the water at their knees, biting his lip. He slowly nodded as Astrid watched him, and his eyes returned to her again, this time looking more confident and understanding. "Okay," he breathed out, his eyes flitting all over her face, especially between her eyes and lips. Astrid pursed her mouth and smiled. "Thank you, Astrid."

She smiled a little bigger at the sound of her name, and quickly kissed his cheek. She folded her hands in her lap as if nothing had happened and Hiccup guffawed softly in reaction. "No punch? I've gotten used to expecting it by now."

"Not this time," she said with a sly tone, glancing at him through her eyelashes. "but I'd be more than willing to, if you'd like."

"No, I think my arm's okay," he chuckled and wrapped a secretive arm around her waist and pressed his lips to her temple.

When it was much later and everyone grew tired of swimming, they all dried themselves off and went stalking through the village to find the notorious streakers. Astrid and Hiccup went along with it, silently giggling to themselves knowing what feeble efforts the twins and Snotlout did to locate them. Wandering around the village way past curfew, Astrid did not fail to notice Fishlegs' close walking proximity to Ruffnut, at least until they had to duck into the shadows to avoid the Watchers, and Ruffnut would give him a smile with a pink blush while they waited in the alleys of the lower village.

Once the torch-wielding Watcher had past, out on the prowl for unruly teenagers since the event at the waterhole that got ten kids caught only two weeks ago, Astrid elbowed Hiccup in the side to whisper to him. "I think Fish has a little crush on our dear crazy Ruff," she said and smirked deviously.

"I've noticed, too. I think we have a blooming romance on our hands," Hiccup winked rather crudely, scrunching up half his face. Astrid giggled and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow.

"Okay, well this blows!" Tuffnut declared, kicking a rock and sending it flying.

"Yeah, I'm going home. This was a waste of time," Snotlout said over a yawn that split his face in two. "Peace out, guys," he raised a hand and spun his heels, walking in the other direction.

"I'm tired, too," Ruffnut said just after she also finished yawning, running her fingers through her loose and wild hair free from its three braids, reaching well past her waist.

"I'll walk you home," Fishlegs volunteered, and Ruffnut's smile and glittering eyes were not subtle at all.

Tuffnut's mouth dropped as the pair walked past him nonchalantly, his brows tightly knit. "Well, geez, it's not like I live in the same house or anything," he said with insulted bewilderment, but when they didn't answer him, or even acknowledge he spoke, his face crumpled up and he went chasing after them. "How dare you walk my sister home without me!"

Astrid and Hiccup were cackling in laughter watching the scene play out. The trio started walking back down the road after Tuffnut jumped on Fishlegs' back and shook him, only to have his sister yank him to the ground and wallop him in the face. Hiccup sighed with a smile on his face and his eyes sparkling bright from the vast array of stars, and looked down to the girl hanging on his arm.

"_I'll _walk you home," and together they went quietly, smiling, all the way to the Hofferson's house.

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Oooooooh. What have we here, Ruffnut and Fishlegs? We'll hear from Ruff soon :) I'm not going to explicitly state what's going on with them, but they will definitely come up later, and it's huge. Just you wait!

Anyway, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear it! BUT I have to say... I was rolling around laughing my godforsaken pants off while typing Hiccup and Astrid's... adventure in her room. LMFAO. Dear lord.

My favorite line is "happily greeted" by the way.

Was this chapter awkward and funny enough for you? I hope so!


	11. Chapter 10

Whoop! Now we hit double-digits!

**Note: I'm recommending the song "The Last Man" by Clint Mansell, a song in the movie The Fountain (which is completely fantastic and mind-bending with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz; go watch it!) and though it should be a sad a song, I find it utterly beautiful, and listening to it toward the end the chapter really gives the feel I was looking for.**

But, among that, this chapter is _very_ important. **_Incredibly_** important, for I try my hardest to solidify Hiccup and Astrid's relationship, and from this, it leads to much more deep, intimate feelings and gives way for more understanding and trust. At least I truly hope so. I've tried so hard.

NOTE: Please go take the poll on my profile!

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Ten

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"Hey, Astrid, I want to talk to you," Auda said just as she closed the bedroom door behind her, catching Astrid in the middle of brushing her mane of hair for the day.

Astrid sighed. "Yes, dearest Auda?" she set the brush down on the low vanity she sat in front of, turning around on the stool to face her bed where Auda sat. Auda smiled a little and folded her hands above her knees, sitting straight as a rod, and Astrid raised her brows in curiosity. Being her sister, Astrid could tell she was piecing words together for something she wasn't quite sure how to say because she's seen her do it a multitude of times. Astrid folded her arms and waited, tapping her foot lightly and impatiently on the floor.

"Okay," Auda let out a huge sigh that seemed to make her deflate and slouch. "What's going on with you and Hiccup?" Astrid's brows shot up tremendously higher then furrowed them just as so. "Mom's starting to ask questions about courtship. You know we don't do that here."

"I know that," Astrid spat. "I know that courting here is looked down upon and so does Hiccup. We know that."

"I talked to him the other day," Auda said calmly, trying to create less waves in the ocean between them that was slowly starting to shrink. "He really does like you, Astrid. I can see it; in his face, the way he smiles when he talks about you. You know, we were walking in Dublin with hundreds of vendors everywhere, places where you can buy the most expensive and beautiful things or you can buy the cheapest shit around, but Hiccup picked out that necklace for you," she pointed to the necklace currently laying on Astrid's vanity. "Out of all those other things he could've got for you, he got you that. That's pretty special. He's special. And not in the bad way he used to be," Auda rolled her eyes and brought her hand to her forehead, laughing, and Astrid couldn't have blushed more. Astrid looked over to the blue-scaled necklace and reached out to touch the scales and smiled shyly.

"What I came here for, mostly, was to tell you to keep it quiet between you two. No public affections where gossip can spread like wildfire. Arnheim still needs to marry you to a husband, you're far old enough now. And you're lucky he's not looking for suitors because he's busy building new ship models," Auda said seriously.

"He's the chief's son. Nobody's better than him," Astrid offered passionately but Auda simply shrugged, not finding much light in her statement.

"You know how Arnheim is. And he doesn't much like the chief. They've had some tiffs in the past from what mom's talked about," Astrid nodded, pursing her lips. Auda exhaled quietly, kicking her feet along to floor to make her dress swish, gripping the edge of the bed. Then, with a mischievous curl of her mouth, she asked, "Have you guys done anything?"

Astrid had turned around to continue brushing her hair, and in the looking glass, she caught Auda's eye and bloomed scarlet. "Yes," she said simply, pulling the brush through her hair. She was not one to lie straight-faced. "Nothing to get me pregnant though," That word, _pregnant_, tasted so full on her tongue but so forbidden.

"Is he a good kisser?" Auda asked eagerly, coming off the bed to crouch behind her sister, taking her shoulders and setting her face next to Astrid's; two totally different face shapes but still clear they were sisters. Astrid bit her lip and smiled, remembering his mouth, nodding.

"Gods, yes," she blurted. "He sucked at first but I taught him and he's okay now. His big teeth sometimes get in the way," she giggled and Auda stood up, putting her hands on her hips, laughing at her sister.

"Well, hey, if you need to tell me anything or ask any questions, you should let me know. And, also, I can't keep mom and Arnheim from turning a blind eye forever, but until then, I'll keep cover for you until you're married," Auda smiled and winked, walking toward the door with her unintentional seductive swaying hips Astrid always envied but was too slim to pull off entirely, but she did try.

"Thank you," Astrid said genuinely, holding her brush to her chest from her spout of giggles. Auda left and closed the door quietly, leaving her love-struck sister to meander on her thoughts about Hiccup and his geeky little mouth.

Instead of going to Hallbera's to work on the dress she was damn near close to finishing, Ingrid begged her daughter to go to the market and buy some food they were desperately low on. Astrid reluctantly accepted and picked up the basket hanging on the kitchen counter with coins jingling in her pocket and left promptly to have as much time as possible at Hallbera's.

She made her way to the market in the village square, saying 'hello' to a few people she knew, and before she could be sweet-talked into buying the 'reddest tomatoes you'll ever see this side of the North Sea', or 'the juiciest lettuce around', she bought a few quick items and moved on. While sorting through a bin of apples to find the less bruised ones, she felt familiar fingers tickle one side of her hips.

"Well, fancy meeting you here," Hiccup said with a low, sly voice, his arm snaking further around her waist. Through the corner of her eye, she saw him grin, but remembering what Auda said earlier, she quickly bought a pound of apples and spun out of his grasp. Walking away and wondering what got over him, she was unable to fully hide her smile, somewhat to her frustration.

Hiccup quickly skittered after her, surprised. "Why are you walking away?" he saw her faint smile so he spoke in her ear confidently, touching her neck gently with his fingers.

Astrid laughed but quickly stifled it, shrugging his hand away from her. "Because we're in _public_," she could feel herself blush further realizing she just wanted to make out with him _right now_ and tackle him to the ground. Screw groceries, screw breathing, screw this courting bullshit.

"So? That's never stopped you before," he spoke next to her, and even though she tried not looking at him because she didn't want him to see her blush to make him push further, but, alas, she did, and jumped when she saw him already staring her dead in the eye.

"_Stop_," she said under a laugh, buying two heads of cabbage without inspecting them for bugs or too many wilted leaves. Quickly walking away, Hiccup still pursued her through the throngs of people, and he used them as a cover to bring his mouth closer to her ear.

He whispered, "Stop what?" walking closely behind her, at least until she grabbed his free hand and yanked him down an alley.

"We can't do this kind of stuff in public, Hiccup," she said in a harsh whisper over her shoulder, holding the basket on her hip, her hair flying behind her.

"Why not?" he stupidly asked and followed after her as she tugged him along.

Astrid set her basket mostly full of food on a pile of stacked crates somewhere near the middle of the long alley. "Because of gossip," She took him by his dark green tunic that made his eyes look stunning and pulled him to her as she backed up against a wall surrounded by crates and hungrily kissed him. Hiccup took her invitation quite well, raking his fingers through her hair and pressing her against the wall from a block of stalls.

"Who cares—about gossip?" Hiccup said in between fast and eager kisses.

"My mother, for one," Astrid said while Hiccup lowered his head to kiss and suck her neck where her hair could hide it. "Ooh," she gasped quietly when he reached a good tender place. "_Me_," she wove her fingers in his hair, playing with the ends by the nape of his neck and the small wispy trails that led down to his back, and from there, she hooked her arms around him and kneaded her palms into his shoulder blades. "And my father. He won't like—gossip about—you and… me," she trailed off with a quiet sigh and then her voice was gone completely when he kissed her full on the mouth.

After a couple good minutes of frantic fondling and grasping and biting lips, Astrid pushed Hiccup off and fixed her skewed headband. "I need to buy groceries. If I'm not back in ten minutes my mom will start looking for me," she said with hints of disappointment and allowed one more kiss from Hiccup.

"But, tell me, why are you so concerned about this gossip stuff all of a sudden?" Hiccup asked as they walked out of the alley together like nothing happened, discretely looking side to side. This time he kept his distance casual though it hurt him, his hands to his sides. His hair did look a bit deliciously rumpled, so Astrid reached a hand up and fixed it for him quickly.

"Auda came and talked to me today. She said my mom was starting to ask questions about you and me, and said to keep the 'public affections' to ourselves, pretty much. And she just pointed out to me that I'm not married and you're not on my father's suitor list," Astrid said with harsh bluntness, and hearing it in words only made her previous good mood go sour, and made her stomach drop about ten feet into the ground.

"Oh," Hiccup looked to the dirt road, feeling the same dread Astrid felt. "But that doesn't mean I won't be able to get on his list."

Astrid unhelpfully shrugged. "He doesn't like the chief, though, so…," she let the sentence finish itself in their heads and sinking hearts, unable to fully speak the words. "I don't know. I don't really want to talk or think about it right now. I can try and bring it up with my mom but—I don't know. Ugh. I can see what Auda thinks," Astrid groaned and bought a pound of potatoes and settled it into her basket, heaving it onto her hip, but Hiccup took it from her before she could start walking. "Thank you," she sighed, looking quite troubled.

"Of course," Hiccup smiled reassuringly at her. "It's alright, Astrid. Everything will be okay. It's only the beginning of summer, there's no rush at all," He so wanted to reach out to her and pull her to him with his one arm that was not occupied and hug her and wipe that distraught look of her lovely, sun-lit face. Worrying did not become her very well.

Astrid bit her lip and nodded, starting on the road home. After a bit of walking, she asked, "So how come you're not at the forge today?"

Hiccup grinned. "I didn't feel like working."

"Lazy," she elbowed his side. "Well, I have to go to Hallbera's, so you better find something to do until I get back."

"I can go for a flight with Toothless. He'll like that," Hiccup said, almost absentmindedly, then raised a quirky, thick brow and smirked. "Are you making plans with me?"

"Kind of. Somewhat undeveloped, though," Astrid smiled like nothing was out of the ordinary, but her eyes still showed she was brooding.

"Okay, then," Hiccup looked upwards in thought, trying to think of an idea that would make her happier. "Come by tonight after Hallbera's."

"Plans finished?" she beamed at him, and Hiccup wanted to cheer knowing he was getting to her.

He scrunched up his face a little bit. "Somewhat undeveloped still, but they're in the ideas stage."

"Because you've got great ideas," Astrid said sarcastically and tilted her head in his direction teasingly.

"Hey, I've got awesome ideas. So far, the only ones you've come up with have been personal harassment," Astrid swiftly punched him in the arm, making him nearly drop the basket. "That was a _terrible_ idea," he laughed and 'oomph'd!" when she punched him again. "They're getting worse by the second," The next punch she threw Hiccup ran from, racing down the road, holding the basket against his chest. "This is best idea I've got so far: running from you!"

"You'll regret that, smartass!" Astrid ran after him back to her house.

"Ohoho!" Hiccup laughed and ran down the street to the Hoffersons, and though it looked almost much the same as every other house, he could find hers because of the big bear head hanging at the apex of the house just above Astrid's window. When dragons were enemies, it was common to use dragon heads, but now with the new alliance, the figureheads were changed to ferocious animals to ward off evil spirits. As everyone changed their houses, Stoick refused to alter the historic chief's house with the Nightmare head, old and mossy but still grand up on the hill to look over the village.

Just as Hiccup was about to sprint up the few steps of her front porch, Ingrid stepped out of the door. He stopped dead at the foot of the steps, looking as if he was caught red-handed and shameful even though she greeted him with a big gentle smile. Astrid stopped next to him, and when her mother's grey eyes fell on her, instead of looking warm, they looked sharp and scolding.

"Hello, Mrs. Hofferson," Hiccup said and offered an awkward smile and an acknowledging nod.

"Hello, Hiccup," she said kindly. "Oh, how nice of you to help carry the groceries home. Thank you," she said and held out her arms to take the basket, going down one step of the three, and Hiccup handed the basket over carefully like a bundled up child, muttering a quiet 'you're welcome'. "Go to Hallbera's now, Astrid. Come home early so you can help make supper," Ingrid said to her daughter sternly, and without another word, Astrid turned on her heel and walked briskly away. Hiccup went after her with a start after nodding a goodbye to her mother, a bit surprised at the brief but tense interaction.

"Hey, is your mom okay?" he asked, hardly having to walk as fast as her because of his longer legs.

"She's fine," Astrid replied shortly but Hiccup found no malice in her voice. He looked up, figuring this was just one of her weird antics and thought it better to leave it alone, noticing the bellies of a few Terrors and Zipplebacks flying overhead. One of the people waved at him below, so he smiled and raised a hand from his pocket as they veered left and flew away. He would join them soon, and he felt a growing sense of anticipation climb higher in his stomach that he almost forgot he was walking Astrid to the square, and that she was talking to him. "Are you listening?" she raised her voice, looking at him hard.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, totally," He shrugged and put on a too-straight face, his brows too high, his mouth too straight, looking her too hard in the eye.

"You're so full of shit," she sighed and elbowed him hard and he winced. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"I heard the part about your mom being fine, then… yeah. I'm sorry," he threw off his straight face and looked apologetic, resembling awfully close to a spurned puppy. Astrid simply rolled her eyes and scoffed. _He's so pathetic_, she thought, crossing her arms.

"Forget about it. It wasn't that big of a deal anyway," she said, looking right up ahead like a pointer. Hiccup had a fleeting temptation to wrap an arm around her shoulders because she stepped about two feet away from him while they were walking down the road like she was mad at him, and he didn't even notice until now. _That's what I get for not listening_, he sighed, remembering what 'public affections' would do to the crap situation they suddenly found themselves in.

"What was it?" Hiccup asked calmly, sidestepping a muddy puddle.

Astrid didn't want to repeat herself, but his voice was smooth and calming, so she found herself talking anyway. "My mom was just ticked that I came home later than she expected me to. And she wasn't mad at you, if you happened to be thinking that. She likes you."

Hiccup raised his brows in a bit of pleasant surprise. "How do you know?"

Astrid shrugged one shoulder. "I remember how she used to say how bad she felt for you, how sometimes she wanted to smack the chief," she laughed a little, leaving Hiccup more baffled with her words. "But you can't tell me you haven't noticed how nice she is to you. Did you see that just now? She smiled at you, then when she looked at me, it was as if Hel and Loki possessed her."

Hiccup felt quite touched that Astrid's own mother would say such things. "No, I haven't noticed," he said quietly, watching his foot and prosthetic pass below him as he walked.

"Of course you haven't. You're still not used to people's kindness," Astrid said, but her words fell on deaf ears as he thought about Ingrid Hofferson. All those years ago, she really felt bad for him? Every time he humiliated himself in the entire village, Ingrid felt _bad_ for _him_? One of the only people? It felt like Thor himself hit him with his hammer from Asgard; he was bewildered. The Hofferson women were beautiful and so _scary_, he would never have thought Ingrid felt bad for a boy as tiny as he was, just another screw-up like every other villager thought. He felt oddly… comforted.

"Hello?" Astrid said to him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Hi," Hiccup said with a smile, stopping with Astrid in front of Hallbera's, clothes waving out of the stall, blowing with the gentle breeze.

"I gotta go now," Astrid said as she took a step backward, biting her lip cutely.

"Okay. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Bye," she spoke a bit quietly, disappearing behind all the colors enticing shoppers inside, swallowing her up whole before he even had a chance to say goodbye, until later when it would be a hello. He still kept his smile, and found a new respect for Ingrid Hofferson he couldn't find for any other person.

He walked home with a sprightly bounce in his step, finding every small burst of sea breeze a blessing on this hot hot hot day. He opened all the windows after greeting Toothless and chatted with him for awhile, eating some bread and freshly bought fruit from shipments from England and the mainland. Yesterday, he spoke with a merchant and he told him that he was shipping in some fruits called grapes within the next few days, so naturally, Hiccup told Toothless. After a good while talking, Hiccup saddled Toothless up and strapped on his tack and stringed the wires and slid on his own vest and they went out for a long flight. Tuffnut and Ruffnut raced him a few times, but of course Hiccup and Toothless won. He showed off a bit for some of the littler kids but avoided their mobs and flocking and went barreling over the ocean and zipped down cliff sides, swerved between sky-high pines and firs, and when dusk fell and thoughts came back to Astrid, both rider and dragon flew home for supper. Toothless inhaled two baskets of fish and Hiccup did much the same with the cupboard, opening at least every jar and swiping a finger in or plucking out a morsel. He drank half a pint of milk and ale mixture and sat down on his dad's big chair and almost fell asleep until there was a loud knock on the door.

"Hold on," Hiccup said after a jumping start, yawning groggily and standing up with a few pops in his back. He dragged his feet to the door, trying to lift the veil of sleep off his eyes, but Toothless hardly paid attention to the door and he, in fact, snuggled deeper into the rug.

Hiccup pulled the door open, a little irked somebody would knock just as he was getting comfy, and came to face Astrid. "Oh, right!" he shouted just as he saw her, making her jump, and he slapped his hands over his face as she laughed. "Come in, come in," he extended a muscular, lanky arm and bowed, gesturing her inside.

"Okay…," Astrid walked past him into his huge house. She raised her face to the high ceiling slashed with fat beams and withered designs, taken aback with the vastness of it. The ceiling was so high on one side of the house (the other being the upper floor) she couldn't see the ceiling completely even though the room was lit with hanging torches and a big center fire to ward off the night chill. The swords and shields hanging on the walls were old and rusted, the huge bear pelts hanging off chairs and benches were dusty, and even the walls and floors themselves seemed old with age.

Hiccup watched her as she looked around the chief's house, passed on through the Haddock line for four generations, though it was built the day Berk was founded seven generations ago. He lived here, but it didn't feel like his house, just a place where he and his father were supposed to live where so many others had before. There were two rooms upstairs and four downstairs, though the four were small and used for storage now and Hiccup couldn't imagine having this house full with so many people. The most he remembered living here at once was four; he, his father, mother and grandfather, but his grandpa died when he was young so he never really knew him. But now, it was only two people and one dragon, considerably depleted than when he was eight.

But, watching Astrid touch the rugs with her skinny bare feet sprinkled with pale dust from the roads, and her fingers graze the fuzzy bear pelts, this house seemed a little more filled.

"I've never seen a house this big," Astrid said with a slight laugh, but she looked entirely comfortable in this new setting.

Hiccup smiled and reached up to tap a hanging lamp of sheep's lard, the wick burning to light most of the room. "It used to get empty sometimes, but now Toothless is here, it doesn't feel like it anymore," he grinned at his dragon friend who shook his head against his paw and twitched an ear plate, as if saying, 'you suck up'.

"Where's the chief?" Astrid asked, picking up a decorative longship on a side table, the sides lined with red and white shields and equipped with a snarling curved dragon head.

"Off on business in the mainland. Doing business stuff with some lords or something. He goes every summer for a few weeks," Hiccup replied casually, walking over to the counter to pick up a particularly juicy-looking pear, only to toss it over to Astrid, who immediately sank her teeth into it. "It looks like supper wasn't good, then?" he said with a smile, but Astrid grimaced and shook her head as she chewed.

"No, it was my dad. Biggest Asshole this side of Midgard," she replied after swallowing, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and walking over to stand across Hiccup.

"What happened?" he asked, biting into a crisp apple and furrowing his brows.

Astrid rolled her eyes, chewing on another bite. "Nothing's ever good enough for him. Seriously, the supper was awesome, but all he could do was bitch and moan about it and everything else going on in his terrible, miserable, disgusting, unfulfilling, horrible life. I swear, he's such a child. All he could talk about were the people at work today, and he even brought up Mr. Ingerman. You know how he's the fisherman for most of the village, right? And how he's really good at it? Yeah, well, he bitched and complained about him," Hiccup made a tremendously disapproving scowl, extremely unbefitting of him. "He said that he wasn't doing enough because he was a couple nets short from normal today. I mean, seriously? We haven't seen 'Legs in forever because he's out with his dad pulling nets in all day, every day for the past couple of weeks. My mom is friends with Valka Ingerman and she says she can't make enough baskets in time to store all the fish they're catching so they've had to use cheesecloth from the farmer's wives—Ruff and Tuff's mom included—to make fucking bags to store fish in. Do you know how much cheesecloth that is?"

"A lot," Hiccup replied.

"Yeah! And my dad has the audacity to complain they're not catching enough because the dragons eat all of it! They do not!" she threw her arm up in the air that wasn't holding her half-eaten pear, bites taken out of it during her tirade. "Okay, he even called Brandan out today. Brandan's a pretty good hunter and archer, and he started telling him 'better' ways to hunt. Seriously? He doesn't have any business getting into Brandan's business! And—ugh!"

Hiccup chuckled deeply though he sympathized with her, throwing his apple core to Toothless before he started to talk. "You need to relax," he reached out a hand to cup her shoulder as an attempt to relax her.

"I know!" she burst, turning away from his hand to pace back and forth. "I know, thank you. I told this to Spike already and she knows, but the fucking idiot tells me I need to go and throw my axe because I'll get 'sloppy' soon, and I _so_ know that, but I don't need to hear it from him! I'm soo glad he's going to see his son on Meathead Island in a few days. We'll finally be rid of him for a good week. But, my mom said she'll go to see my sister because she's going to give birth really soon, and he—_reluctantly_—said she could come, so that leaves us in the clear," she calmed down toward the end, slowing down on her pacing. She sighed and raised a hand to her forehead, looking a Hiccup with a silent 'thank you' in her eyes and all her energy seemed to seep out of her.

Hiccup laughed when she hunched with exaggeration, walking over to the nearest window, seeing it was completely dark out now but most of the lodges down the hill still had candles lit in the windows. He looked over his shoulder and saw her looking at him and he grinned. "Plans are ready to commence," he said with humor in his voice, striding through the kitchen where he roused Toothless with a promise of extra fish tomorrow, already in his riding tack. Hiccup picked up his vest where he tossed it over the back of a chair and slipped it over his head as Astrid watched him, a bright and gentle smile growing on her face.

"Come on, buddy," Hiccup said excitedly to Toothless and opened the door for him, then stretched out a hand to Astrid and she jumped to grab it. Hiccup led Astrid outside to the front threshold and he swung a leg over Toothless' thick neck and Astrid hopped on after him, holding him tight around the torso and pressing her knees into his thighs. "Ready?" he asked quietly over his shoulder and Astrid nodded into his tunic then buried her face in it, squeezing her eyes shut and grinning. They took off with such force Astrid was unused to, but she let out a squeal of delight when they ascended into the clear starry sky, and Hiccup couldn't help but smile.

Astrid pulled her face away from Hiccup's back after the first straight climb and watched the village disappear into the sea and forest below them, the lit windows looking like a mirrored sky. It was a moonless night so all the stars were out to say hello and some were so gathered it looked like a path led through the sky. Astrid was so mesmerized by the stars she leaned back so far to see all of them that she almost fell backwards and off Toothless. The dragon gave a little start and a scolding huff and Astrid only giggled, giving him a pat of apology, swinging her legs, pulling off her fillet and tucking it into her pocket to let the wind pull her hair free. Toothless banked right slowly, pulling them along the vast emptiness and beauty of the sea.

"Oh my Gods," Astrid gasped into Hiccup's ear, her eyes widening.

"It's so beautiful," Hiccup finished for her, his voice barely above a whisper. The sky looked like a dome with a black blanket thrown on top, dotted with thousands of tiny holes to let the blinding light of Asgard barely through, so magical and enchanting it really felt surreal. Flying made it seem like there was absolutely nothing below them but like they were soaring in an ocean of stars and the blackest night, reflected among the surprisingly calm waters, and sharing it together could not make neither Hiccup nor Astrid wish any better. It was perfect and amazing, just like Astrid's first flight where she touched the clouds themselves, and now it seemed she could pluck a star from the sky and hold it in her hand like a piece of the whitest silver. There was absolutely nothing better than this.

Astrid rested her chin on Hiccup's shoulder and looked up to the endless sky, feeling too small to be one the greatest female warriors on Berk. She pulled herself close to Hiccup and felt his heart thrum through his back and felt his life, how his shoulder blades shifted when he slightly leaned to veer left or right, and with that, she felt his back and chest expand as he breathed. His hair tickled her cheek, scented from pines and wood, and she breathed him in as naturally as the gods would have it, and all at once, she realized this was Hiccup and he had her heart, as silly as it sounded to her. With widening eyes, she felt unknown warmth spread through her and she felt so content and happy like nothing seemed wrong and everything seemed right, despite the suitor situation. He held her heart as carefully and as delicately as he held her hand, but held it close and cherished it and now she only realized she gave it to him, and strangely, she felt alright. She didn't feel troubled or worried or anxious. She trusted him and he understood her, and she felt at peace with him like she had never felt it before.

"Am I your girlfriend?" she asked quietly, her fleeting breath tickling the sensitive backside of his ear where wind did not pass, her eyes forever scrolling the endless sky.

Hiccup smiled and felt his heart beat faster and he knew she could tell, but he didn't mind. His emerald eyes scanned the scarce difference between sky and sea and he exhaled softly, taking his time in answering. "If you will be with me, then yes."

"I'll be with you. Always," she said against his neck, and despite her will, she smiled against his warm skin when his hand came up to cover hers above his heart.

They flew around the island for a while longer, marveling at the pure effortless beauty that folded around them. Up on the mountain, Hiccup found a clearing on a wide cliff ledge to give them the perfect front row seats to the ocean without the village in sight. Toothless found a soft and inviting patch of grass to curl up on to leave the two alone, and Hiccup led Astrid by the hand near the cliff's edge but far enough away to be comfortable and safe. They laid down side by side, still holding hands loosely in between them, and looked up in wonder like so many others had before in the past at the same changing sky.

"Do you see that?" Hiccup raised his free hand and pointed to the sky. "It's the constellation Dvalin the deer," he lowered his hand to rest on his stomach, but Astrid had no idea what he was speaking of.

"Where?" she furrowed her brows in concentration when he raised his arm again, tilting his head in to be closer to hers to get her perspective and show her. "Uh, okay, still don't see it, but you do, so I guess it must be there," They laughed and Hiccup pointed out another constellation.

"There's Friggerock, the staff of Frig… or somebody's."

Astrid laughed and nudged him with her elbow. "Isn't it Odin's?" Hiccup made an 'I don't know' noise and they laughed again. "Gothi's going to kill us if she finds out we don't know who Friggerock belongs to."

"Ohh—there's Nidhogg at Yggdrasil's roots… and there's Ratatosk at the top of the branches, being all squirrelly," they laughed loudly, looking at each other in their humor. "And there's Andvandil's Toe. Love it."

"How do you know these? I mean, I know you know the lore, but the constellations?" Astrid asked after her bout of laughing, her thumb running absentmindedly over his knuckles.

"Elder Gothi let me borrow her books until I stopped giving them back because I kept forgetting," he chuckled. "I'm surprised I still remember these. The sky hasn't been this clear in a long time," he smiled even when his voice trailed off, then his thoughts came back to what he couldn't stop thinking about. "I feel like you've been my girlfriend for longer than tonight," he said slowly and rolled his head over to look at her profile just barely illuminated by the millions of stars, and he realized he will never get over how beautiful she was; even fifty years from now, she would still have the ability to take his breath away.

Without looking at him, but knowing he was looking at her, she became more confident of her answer. "I feel like it, too. It's just now spoken, is all," Hiccup admired her steadiness and how she never let her voice waver—most of the time. She smiled lightly and squeezed his hand and looked over at him, their noses only a few inches apart.

He wanted to say 'I love you', but he didn't and instead transferred it into his kiss and held it true to his heart to save, kissing her slow but delicate, giving her his best. Astrid kissed him back, silently trying to give him her feelings, but he seemed to understand like he always did, and then his opposite hand cupped her cheek, his fingers tracing down her neck where her tendon was taught with turning her head. His finger tips slid across her exposed collarbone over her shoulder, then over the slight hill of her breast, down her side, and then slowly between her sharp hips. Astrid broke away briefly when she felt the slowly thrumming pain between her legs crescendo when his fingers got remotely close, gasping, and Hiccup more than understood her; he felt it, too.

Quickly and easily, Hiccup rolled on top of Astrid and let go of her hand to hold her face and kiss her hard and passionately deep while she tugged at his belt. He unbuckled it and threw the belt aside, still keeping his mouth in contact with hers until she pulled his shirt off with his help. Hiccup sank his mouth to the curve of her jaw as she reveled at the ridges of his back and the dips and rises of his ribs, even to the slight definition of abs he possessed, but to her it was enough, twirling her fingers in the soft trail of reddy-brown hair around his navel that fell below the rim of his trousers. She remembered what she thought and felt at the bay when she picked up that shell, and how it was pointless in her efforts to get near him because she couldn't be closer now.

She unbuckled her own belt and tugged off her dress as Hiccup slid his hands on her skin all the way up her shoulders until she was shivering for more contact of his body. Hiccup slipped the dress over her head and untied the bind that covered her breasts while she raised her back for him, blushing that he was about to see her completely even though he has before, panting with loss of breath. Once he unwound the five foot long strip of white cloth his hand cupped her small breasts just big enough to fit his palms perfectly, just about the size of apples. He kneaded her gently but just enough for Astrid to moan into his ear, knowing she could be unrestricted in her volume when he pinched her nipples and rolled them just so with his thumbs so she could moan with lazy smiles and to be taken by Hiccup's mouth again.

Remembering again her wild thoughts at the bay, how she wanted him so intimately she thought about it all night in her craziest dreams, she felt a sharp pull behind her navel and was ready to throw all caution to the wind. She pulled at his pant strings while tenderly kissing the long and straight scar beneath his collarbone, and it took Hiccup a second to realize what she was doing. His hands flew to hers to take and pull away, his mouth detaching from her neck to sit up slightly to look at her face. His eyes looked solemn but livid and wild at the same time, knowing exactly how she felt for he's felt it for years.

"Please," Astrid whispered in a hoarse voice, her brows knitted together, looking him imploringly in the eyes. "I want you so bad, Hiccup."

Oh, just hearing those words made him throb so uncomfortably for release and made him want to not give a _single fuck_ and have her already but he couldn't risk it now, for her sake. In halting breaths, he replied in a shaky voice full of desire, "I know, I know, me too, but we can't. We can't," He avoided looking at her in the eye for in fear he might give in.

Astrid groaned and Hiccup just _almost_ let her hands go to do what she wanted with him. "I want _you_. Oh, Gods, please," her fingers just grazed his hardness pressing against the linen of his trousers and her leg, and only wanted it _out_.

"We can't. We can't risk it, Astrid, you know that," she touched him again and this time he let her cup him and he felt like he could collapse. "Ohh, I ache. I so wish."

"Please, Hiccup," she said once more, kissing him as if to entice him, but he moaned a 'no' into her mouth.

"Let me. I'll take care of you," he pushed her back down to the soft earth and held her hands above her head, kissing her lovingly as she was the only woman he could ever love, hoping he could do the best he could to relieve her instead of himself. He slid a hand down her damp body to the meeting of her legs, pulling off her underwear and immediately going back to his task, rubbing her wet folds in slow circles that made Astrid swivel her hips and curl her toes, arching into his broad chest and holding him close. She let out delicious moans and sighs that made Hiccup want her more than anything he had ever felt, sending him, reluctantly, up his own peak.

Finding him biting his lip every time her thigh rubbed against his hardness, Astrid slid a hand down the front of his pants and his face instantly relaxed but his hand never stopped moving on her. Blindly, she pulled his pants a bit looser just so it was enough for him to be comfortable, her hand squeezing and stroking him. Hiccup pumped two fingers in deep enough to his knuckle and curled his fingers, and with each pump, her hips swiveled a little more and she kept it in time to what she was doing on him, so he bucked his own hips along with hers.

It wasn't long before they found each other climbing the same peak, and finding free hands, their fingers entwined and held on tightly with white knuckles as they came to their climax together. In Astrid's hazy, lights-popping mind, she managed to pull Hiccup out of his pants just in time for him to spit into the grass next to her hip with a loud accompanying groan into her shoulder, and then let him go to nearly scream to the starry sky as her fluids splashed onto his hand.

Hiccup's elbows rested in the grass near her head with his sweat-dripping nose touching hers, panting together wildly like they had just ran a thousand miles, staring into each others eyes though it was hard to see. Hiccup rested his forehead on hers, taking a second to catch his breath before kissing her tenderly, his hand smoothing her sweaty hair from her forehead. Astrid tucked him back inside his pants and teasingly and tiredly, traced her fingers around the rim of pants to the two small dimples at the base of his spine like thumb prints in dough, sweat dripping down his back. She rubbed her fingers in his hair as he rested his body along hers, nuzzling his nose into her neck and exhaling softly to give her shivers.

Astrid listened to the wind shake the pine boughs and the long grass along the edge of the forest as Hiccup fell asleep in the crook of her neck and shoulder, his arms loosening around her waist as he fell deeper into sleep. She thought about the changing sky and the millions of stars, and thought about how different she may have been when this same sky was displayed. She didn't realize what a different person she became until tonight, but it was not a bad change by any means. She felt older, more responsible, more mature, and no problem seemed so simple anymore.

She felt like she grew up since the days of the Kill Ring where being best was all that mattered and everything else seemed like a waste of time or was too childish or girly. Of course she still wanted to be the best at her axe or a seamstress or at anything, but it didn't seem to be all-consuming anymore now that more important problems were taking bigger parts in her life. Like Hiccup. She believed he would never be worth it, never amount to anything, never reach her standards, never this, never that, but he proved he could. He more than could, he did it. He became the biggest part of her that she never had, never believed she thought was missing, and a life without him would be no life at all. She couldn't imagine living her life without Hiccup in it, whether a lover or a friend. He changed her in ways she didn't think she could or was capable of, and helped her feel things she never felt. She felt empowered with him. She felt like a better person. She was kinder, more understanding, and took a lot more things lightly, and she laughed more. Gods, she had never laughed so much in her life since Hiccup. She was so serious even as a child. She simply just saw everything in a better light, even though she could still be serious sometimes. She just couldn't believe that this big, stupid, sleeping idiot was what she needed.

Astrid thought all throughout the night until the black sky lightened and she could see reds and pinks and oranges being to streak across the sky. Hiccup kept her naked body warm because she didn't dare move in fear she wake him, at least until he awoke with heavy eyes and demanded she put her dress back on lest she catch a cold. She smiled and did so, and together they watched the sun rise, flying over the ocean bathing in the warm light. Hiccup landed Toothless quietly on the roof above her porch, and she patted Toothless goodbye before climbing in her window. She leaned over the sill and kissed Hiccup goodbye, letting her lips linger purposefully on his mouth so he would remember her kiss for the rest of the day.

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Do you see what's going on? Do you see _feelings_ developing? If not, I will explain and/or work on the next chapters to make it seem so, because by now, I need it to happen. I have wild plans that I need to have THIS be developed to move on. Please don't be afraid to ask any questions! I think I'm pretty nice; seriously, I won't be mean because you don't understand something, but I think it's pretty straight forward.

Well, shit, I definitely give props to Hiccup for being the responsible one, lmfao. See, he is a good boy, a horny one, but he is good :) hahaha.

NOTE #2: This is Wednesday and I have not gotten chapter 11 typed up yet because, 1) School started and for me it's the ULTIMATE ENEMY in killing my sick writing flow. NO INSPIRATION, 2) I've been sick as fuhh these last couple of days so I've been a lazy bastard and I haven't wanted to type it up. So in forewarning, I can't guarantee that I will update on time NEXT Thursday (two days before my birthday WHOO). So just a heads up, don't flame me or nuttin'.


	12. Chapter 11

Hey, guys! So I did get this typed up thanks to the giant antibiotic pill I have to take now, but it's making me feel better, so that's good news for you! :) Unfortunately, this is _my_ least favorite chapter so far since I mostly threw it together and ran with it, but I hope you like it, at least.

I listened to Tseitsi by The Middle East while typing most of this, the longest song on their EP (13 minutes!), but you can listen to the first half, but it is a really nice song, so you should listen to all of it, though the lyrics don't make much sense in accordance to the story... haha. And sorry for the late update, I was at school, then at an after school meeting, and then work until about 20 minutes ago.

Anyway.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Eleven

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Astrid went to Hallbera's after a couple of hours of sleep and scarfing down half of the Hofferson's supply of fruit reserves and a full loaf of freshly baked bread and butter, and despite her lack of sleep, she felt wide awake and refreshed. She finished the emerald dress within twenty minutes of her arrival, and at the completion, she jumped up so suddenly and shouted so loud the three other women nearly shrieked in surprise. But once setting eyes on the dress all their hearts melted and they crowded around it as Astrid held it up with a giant, boasting grin, their fingers stroking the tiny flowers, the knots at the hem, the delicate folds, the wide scooping neckline of the dress, and altogether praising Astrid for her work.

"Seriously, Hallbera, this dress," Stinkeye said with a laugh, but one could tell she meant every word. "We need her. Don't even think twice."

Astrid blinked in shock; she never thought Stinkeye would want her to be included in Hallbera's repertoire of employees. This whole time she though Stinkeye absolutely hated her and never wanted her to be an apprentice, or even just to be here to make dresses. Astrid watched as Hallbera shook her head in amazement, brushing her reddish bangs out of her eyes, and she felt a huge bubble of pride build up to the point where she felt like she was noticeably fatter. "Where did you larn to make these kinds of cuts, Astrid. I have never in all my travels seen something as… as…,"

"Beautiful?" Ranka offered.

"Yes," Hallbera swallowed and nodded. Astrid's smile fell in realizing how serious she was being. _Really? She has never seen this before? Does she like it as much as Stink's or Ranka's work? Does it look too gaudy? I hope the white and gold look okay, I really thought about using a light pink to not look too bright. Ugh, what am I saying?_ "Astrid?" she didn't even realize Hallbera had said something.

"What? Sorry," she shrugged unhelpfully, feeling her cheeks heat up a bit.

"Has Auda warn the dress you've given her yeat?" Hallbera asked again, holding the end of the skirt.

"No," Astrid shook her head, furrowing her brows.

"Good. We'll make another dress like this one farr the midsummer festival next week and you'll wear that new one. We'll sell this one farr eighty penningar," Hallbera said with finality, her bright green eyes wild. She turned to walk to the closet full of cloth bolts, but Astrid had to stop her. Something didn't feel right in the pit of her stomach.

"Wait, Hallbera," Astrid stepped after her, and lowering the dress, she nervously fingered the shoulders, looking Hallbera straight in the eye fearlessly.

"What? Eighty penningar not enough farr your dress?" Hallbera turned quickly, her words sharp. Astrid felt offended but she didn't want to create a rift between them when she really wanted to work here. Instead, she bit her lip and shook her head, trying to find the right words to say without getting angry at her.

"No, that's fine. Just I don't really… want to… _teach_ you how I made it. I'm not sure if I can, and…," Hallbera raised her brows to urge her like she was an insolent child. "I want the design to be exclusive to me since I did make it up. No offense to you or anything," Astrid looked her hard in the eye just as Hallbera did. Hallbera was a big and tall woman and Astrid had seen her temper when Ranka said something wrong or Stinkeye messed up on a shirt by accident, and she was frightening. In general, Hallbera was a very kind woman but she liked to show it in tough love and not really any other form, but this last week or two, she's been very touchy, and Astrid has not failed to notice. She didn't know what was happening with her husband or her children or other things in her life, but Astrid felt like Hallbera was dealing with something that she was included in, and it frustrated her to not know what it was that she did. Was Hallbera jealous of her dress? Was it something to do with her mother? Astrid didn't know, but she showed that she wouldn't stand for it by looking at Hallbera as intently as she was. She respected her and would never do a thing to betray her, but she wasn't going to be a lame apprentice and not stand up for herself.

Hallbera looked at her for a second longer and said, "Fine. I'll help you finish in a week's time. Come and pick out what color you want," she said coldly and turned again to go to the side closet.

Astrid mentally sighed a relief and looked over her shoulder at Ranka and Stinkeye for any signs of anything. Stinkeye raised her eyebrows like she was surprised too and didn't know what to do. Ranka nodded her head in the direction of the closet, so Astrid handed them the dress she was holding and they took it eagerly to inspect so she could go to the closet with Hallbera. She bit her lip and walked to the dark closet where Hallbera was rifling through the hundreds of bolts on the five shelves. There was a stepping stool in the small closet with barely enough room to fit two people because it was stuffed with so much cloth. It was messy to the point that some bolts were unraveled and spilled over the shelves, piles of cloth pushed up against the perimeter of the shelves on the floor to not step on them, cloth just tossed willy-nilly over stacks of bolts, and it all just made Astrid more frustrated.

Hallbera was already shuffling through bolts and fabric when Astrid stepped inside, and already she could feel a different vibe from her master. She was subdued and quiet, her eyes intent on finding a suitable color and not looking at Astrid. Astrid was a little put-off, but went searching anyway for a color and fabric she had in mind.

"Green looks good on you," Hallbera said quietly to the stack of bolts, and pulled out a section from an unraveled bit and showed it to Astrid. She looked over her shoulder and shrugged.

"I've already made a green dress," Astrid said. "I'm thinking a blue-ish color."

"You always warr blue."

"Because it looks good on me."

Hallbera smiled lightly and said, "Don't ye want to catch Hiccup's eye?"

Astrid turned, doubting she heard what she actually heard. She furrowed her brows and set her mouth in a straight line, looking at Hallbera with questioning eyes. It took a moment for the gears to start spinning in her head for her to reply. "He's already seen me in green. Besides, that's pretty much the only color he wears," Astrid said like she was his mother with a scoff. Hallbera let out a huff of laughter in agreement.

"How aboot a color you haven't warn yeat?" She looked at Astrid hard, an inquiring brow rising. By looking at her, Astrid knew instantly.

"No. No pink," she said quickly, turning sharply in finality to the stacks, searching with new-found fervor.

"No, it don't have to be pink, Astrid. A hue of pink would look pretty, like a red."

"Red doesn't fit the festival. That's more winter. Yellow?"

"You did your sister's yellow."

"True. A light green? I'm sick of seeing green, though," Astrid groaned and hit her head on the shelf, her hands falling from the midst of bolts and fabric. "I hate colors," she mumbled and sighed.

Hallbera raised a brow, ignoring Astrid's comment and pulled out a sheet of shimmery white fabric. She remembered buying this forever ago. She haggled it from an English merchant and paid a huge sum of money for a thin bolt of it, probably only about fifty yards worth. Hallbera was going to use it to make a birthing gown for her cousin's son some eighteen years ago, but after a fight she was asked to not make it, so the cloth never had a further purpose so she hid it away for Stinkeye and Ranka to never use. But, now thinking about it, her cousin's son does have an awful attraction to Astrid, so maybe it does have some use after all.

"We're using this white," Hallbera said and started shuffling sticks and cloth around with determination to get the whole thing out.

"Wait! It's my dress, isn't it? Let me see it, for Odin's sake," Astrid nearly snapped, turning and trying to peek over Hallbera's tall and wide shoulder to see what she was pulling out. After some harsh tugs and a few falling and unraveling bolts, Hallbera managed to pull out the bolt of white now mostly unrolled. Immediately, Astrid's mouth dropped, looking at the fabric in awe at how it shimmered like freshly-fallen snow. With tentative fingers, she reached out and stroked what Hallbera was holding, her breath catching at the softness of it. "What… is this? It's not linen, clearly… where on Midgard did you get this?" she asked incredulously.

Hallbera smiled a bit and said, "It's silk. I bought it from an Englishman who bartered it from a French merchant. Cost me a fortune," she let out a humorless huff of laughter when Astrid's eyes widened. "It's bin lost forever, but I haven't bothered looking farr it farr years. It seemed to come out to me today."

Astrid blinked, then withdrew her hands as if she were forbidden to touch it, holding her hands low. "Are you sure? I mean, if it was so expensive, I really don't need it."

"No," Hallbera said without question. "You may use it. Beside't, I'm not sure what other use I'll have farr it. Too expensive to sell in thee shop," she stepped around Astrid with the fabric in her arms into the backroom. Astrid immediately followed, still bewildered.

"What's 'silk'?" she asked, walking behind Hallbera to her table against the farthest wall from the closet.

"Oh, it's not all silk. It's part cotton o'carse. She shimmery parts you see are the silk," Hallbera replied, clearing off her desk space with one arm, then set the fabric down carefully. "It's made from caterpillar's webs or something."

"What?" Stinkeye nearly yelled. "Caterpillar's? Nuh-uh!"

"Yes-huh," Hallbera replied haughtily and Astrid sniggered. "I don't knoow, I'm not an expart, girl," Hallbera waved Astrid over and she dutifully did so. "Alright. So we begin."

Astrid went over her meticulous process with Hallbera for the next two days, showing her master what she does to make dresses without actually telling her how, allowing Hallbera to use her own techniques. Because she was a professional seamstress, Hallbera caught on quickly and well enough so the dress looked like Astrid's with a bit of Hallbera's popular flair thrown in. With Hallbera's quicker hand and superior sewing capabilities, the two were nearly done with the sleeves and bodice within two days. Because of the quality of the fabric, Astrid chose not to add too many extra details like swirls or knots, but around the bottom hem of the skirt and around the wide scooping neckline, she added a thin strip of embroidery that was a very pale buttery yellow. Hallbera complimented her on her choice when asked to see it, saying," You should like colors because you're quite good with them."

The skirt posed a bit of a problem once they got to it, however. Previously, Astrid made the skirt just long enough to reach the floor, but because of the scarcity of the fabric, they were forced to reduce it to her ankles. This threw Astrid off a bit because she had all processes pretty much memorized. Hallbera took it from there and showed Astrid a couple new techniques that she only taught official apprentices, so Astrid was privileged and grateful and ever-attentive to every word she spoke. Within the week, they were totally done with the dress, and Astrid wasted no time in trying it on.

It fit absolutely perfect in all the right places; it showed off her hips just right, the neckline looked fantastic, and even the bodice made her small breasts look a little bigger and Astrid couldn't complain. She knew Hiccup would love it. She didn't mind the length because she knew she would be skipping around and dancing and twirling the majority of the time anyway (though she would never tell anybody, of course). Stepping out of the storage closet, she did a full twirl holding out the skirt so it swished around her, and in doing so, Stinkeye squealed and Ranka clapped, both with big grins on their faces. Astrid looked to Hallbera and saw she was smiling approvingly, but knew it was all Astrid's work.

"It's so beautiful. I'm so jealous," Stinkeye said excitedly. "Too bad I'm fat with this baby," she laughed at herself, admiring Astrid's dress with sparkling brown eyes.

"It's a perfect summer dress, especially for the festival," Ranka said, pointing out the quarter sleeves and the yellow trim.

"Thank you," Astrid said, unable to keep the smile from her voice or off her face.

"It's truly lovely," Hallbera added, looking Astrid up and down. "Alright, now get outta it. I'm growing more envious every second I look at ye," she waved her off with a laugh and turned around, going back to her desk to clean up and start another project. Astrid laughed with her and went back into the closet to change.

She found a cloth bag to put her dress in so nobody would see it, saying she was taking the two days off before the festival. She went home with a prideful smile and had a little lunch before taking her axe leaning up against the side of her dresser and going out to maul her Favorite Tree. "Too much dress-making," she told Spike while dropping off a few special-treat halibut. Astrid decided to take the long way to her Favorite Tree because she wanted to see if Hiccup was back at work in the forge or if he was slacking off with Toothless. She saw a faint plume of smoke from the crooked chimney and the unmistakable sound of metal clings, so she went into the forest with a smile and threw her axe all day.

Though it wasn't only Astrid who was busy this whole week, Hiccup did a few other things without stepping into the forge at all until today. His father came home on mandag so he and Stoick along with the council formed up new treaties and new acts and Hiccup showed off his designs for bola launchers and catapults, all day long at Mead Hall. Hiccup was mostly there because Stoick decided he needed more involvement now as he was getting older to prepare for his role as future chief, so he mainly sat quietly and listened while Stoick deliberated with Spitelout and the council. Snotlout even showed up at a few meetings, also to prepare as second-in-command after his own father, though Hiccup did catch him starting to doze off a few times.

On most nights, Hiccup went home by himself and later he would hear his father clunk in and retire to his room upstairs next to his own. But, on one special night, Stoick decided to leave the Hall early and return home with his son. The walk was quiet if not awkward, and it was a relief to Hiccup to get home and be able to eat because he was starving. Just as he was beginning to raid the cupboards, Stoick stopped him.

"No, you're not going to eat half tha cupboard again. Sit daown. I'm going to make supper," Stoick said in his deep voice, effectively catching Hiccup on surprise.

He paused opening a jar and turned his head to his father just as he was pulling out a large cauldron, perfect for two men with the combined amount of eight stomachs. "What? Since when can you _cook_?" Never in all his years had he seen his father willingly decide to make any sort of meal.

"Oh, don't act so surprised," Stoick said as he threw a couple more logs on the fire. "I can't. I've alweys bin terrible at cookin' and your mother knew it. I tried cooking farr her once and it nearly killed her," Stoick replied, and just when he realized what he said, he stuttered. "U-uh—," but Hiccup cut him off with a light chuckle, closing the cupboard and going around the counter to pick up an apple. "Well… ya know what I mean."

"Yeah, I get it," Hiccup said with a smile. Stoick shifted his eyes away from his son's and turned to continue preparing. "Since you can't cook, what are you going to make?" Hiccup asked, really hoping it was something quick because he was seriously considering eating a chair. He was genuinely surprised to this day he could eat so much but still retain his skinniness and he used to resent it, but now he was grateful so he can maintain his 'Viking essence'.

"A stew your mother taught me to make. She said if I can't cook anything, I might as well larn one thing," he said with a light chuckle, but behind it, it was quite obvious how nostalgic he became simply by the sound of his voice and how it trailed off. "You'll know what stew I'm talking aboot. It's tha one with the apples."

"Oh! Yeah, that one. That one's my favorite; strange ingredients," Hiccup said between chewing, starting to slowly walk toward the stairs.

"She tended to make up her own," Stoick said, and Hiccup could see the soft smile through his thick mustache and the crinkles form on the outer corners of his aging blue eyes. Watching him, Hiccup was suddenly thrust into the same nostalgia his mother left him with, quietly leaving the kitchen to be in his room. He pushed the thoughts away like he usually did when concerning his mother and buried himself in adjusting designs and sketching new ones, adding some to his sketchbook.

He came across some pages of Astrid that he sketched of her while she wasn't looking or paying attention and he found himself missing her too. He hadn't seen or talked to her in a good four days since the night they found each other up on that peak, and he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing and he wanted to ask her how her day had been. Ever since she opened him into her life, he's always wanting to know everything, not in a nagging or clingy sense, but because he was genuinely curious. He loved listening to her talk and how she said things in a way he never could, watching her face change from expression to expression, sometimes flailing her arms around (he knew he was responsible for that). He missed how her eyes sparkled every time she looked at him and how she knew what he was thinking about without having to talk, and just how it was so easy to not feel like he has to constantly run his mouth and look like a fool. She was so easy and effortless to be with, and now that she was his 'official' girlfriend, it made it even better.

Hiccup could hear downstairs when Stoick swore and a couple of clatters followed, chuckling to himself, shuffling through some more papers until he heard his name called for supper. Coming down the steps, he nearly slipped and fell on his rear at the sight of his giant father wearing a much too small apron. Hiccup stopped himself from bursting out laughing by biting his lip but he couldn't stop from snorting. Stoick whirled around and blushed a furious red darker than his hair, hurriedly taking off the apron and throwing it in a corner.

"I forgot," he said sheepishly, bowing his head while Hiccup really tried not to laugh for the sake of his father's pride, but really, the sight was too precious.

"Nice apron," Hiccup snorted and Stoick gave him an icey glare as he served up two heaping bowls.

"Shut it, boy."

"I'm not going to forget that," Hiccup said and picked up his steaming wooden bowl and brought it to the table along with half a loaf of nearly stale bread.

"_Hiccup._"

"Okay, okay, I'll really try not to forget it," When Stoick narrowed his eyes into deathly slits, Hiccup immediately bowed his head and shut his mouth.

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Astrid felt incredibly refreshed and quite revived after her hard session at hacking away her Favorite Tree. She was disappointed at first from her lack of rigorous activity and how terrible her throws were, but by the end of the day she might as well have been in a tournament. Astrid was nothing if not determined and that was exactly what was running through her mind all day. She was sore, sweaty and tired when she left for home well after dusk, and she decided to take the long way back again just pas the forge. She was amazed there was _still_ smoke coming out of the chimney. With an idea sprouting in her head inspired from her rumbling stomach, she smiled and jogged the rest of the way home.

Auda and Brandan were resting by the fire when she burst through the front door, Brandan reading a book and Auda sewing some things. She raised her head when Astrid blew through, saying sarcastically, "Well, hi."

"Hi!" Astrid shouted as she jumped the stairs by two.

She shut the door hurriedly behind her and carefully set her axe where it was before and threw off her sweaty tunic. She pulled a tighter dress over her head, yellowish in color that reached to her calves and made her chest look a bit more appealing. She ruffled her hair and brushed it, then dabbed on some rosewater from a vial on her vanity. "I hope I don't stink," she said with hints of worry in her voice, and added a few more drops for extra measure. She checked her hair one more time in the looking glass before blowing out her candle and racing into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Auda called from the living room while Astrid piled together leftovers from Auda's dinner in a cloth-lined basket.

"Bringing Hiccup supper," Astrid replied, flying through the cabinets for more bread.

"Well, isn't that sweet," Brandan said offhandedly to his wife, adjusting his spectacles. "Wish you'd bring me supper."

Auda punched him in the shoulder and he winced. "I made you supper, you ungrateful bastard."

"Hey, naow," Brandan said, setting down his book. Astrid rushed through the living room before he could finish with the basket in the crook of her elbow.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Auda called just before Astrid shut the door behind her.

The village was very quiet as she walked down the dirt road, and to her surprise, even the ocean was quiet; there was hardly a gust of wind or the crashing of the waves against the cliff face. The only noise she could hear was the sound of her own scuffling feet and the occasional squeak of the wicker basket against her hip. She smiled though because she liked the quiet, and that was one of the things she liked about Hiccup; she didn't need to constantly talk with him as silence was enough for them both.

She came up to the forge window and knocked on the closed doors, opening one slightly to peek her head in. She saw Hiccup turn round from the anvil, wearing gloves up to his elbows and a ratty old shirt. He saw her and she noticed how his expression changed from annoyance to intrigue and he smiled at her, nodding his head toward the door. Astrid went around and walked past a couple of barrels into the roof overhang and wrenched open the side door as the front one was currently locked. Stepping inside, it was warmer than the cool air outside but Hiccup at least had the sense to keep the rest of the windows open to let out the hot air.

"You don't have to go to the window anymore to come inside," Hiccup said with a louder voice as he was hammering away at some stubborn red hot thing on the anvil. Astrid set her basket on a counter so Hiccup would see it, but he had his back turned to her so she just waited.

"Well, the first time I did that when you were shirtless, you nearly jumped through the ceiling," Astrid said with a chuckle, striding around the forge, and went into places that were normally closed off to customers with a secretive sweeping glance at Hiccup, who didn't notice, only to find the places uninteresting.

"Well, yeah," Hiccup said like the answer was obvious. "No other woman had seen me shirtless before other than your sister, and that time I was drunk," Hiccup said as he dipped the sword in water with a resounding hiss, going back to the anvil to add a few more whacks to it before he decided it was finished to sharpen tomorrow. Astrid let out a ripple of laughs when she remembered cutting his hair, picking up and inspecting a finished spear head.

"How sad is it that my sister was the first girl to see you shirtless and not me? Well, _she_ didn't cut your hair fantastically," she smiled and set the spear head down and sashayed back over to the large basket with her arms folded behind her back. "I had fun."

"I know you did," Hiccup said and chuckled with a nod, closing the doors to the fire and throwing off his gloves. "What's in the basket?" he asked, raising a curious brow, wondering what on earth she could be carrying at this time of night.

She gave him a sly smile so Hiccup instantly knew it must be good. "I brought you supper," she said and lifted the basket off the counter and brought it to a large crate, the only surface clear of anything in the forge.

"Ohh," Hiccup said with a huge grin, excitement tingeing his voice and he felt his heart physically swell in size. She was so lovely. "Well, I'll go change shirts, then. It must be fancy."

Astrid snorted and laughed, shaking her head when he disappeared into the backroom, pulling up two smaller crates across each other for chairs. She opened the basket next to her on the floor and set the half-eaten blueberry pie that was on top away for desert and pulled out two wooden plates and served up some mutton stew and soda bread and slathered it in butter, adding a few hand-picked strawberries stolen from the Olsson's garden on the way here, and lastly, poured half a cup of mead for him also taken from her mother's 'secret' cabinet. When Hiccup came back, he was wearing a dark red tunic, a color not characteristic to him, but Astrid couldn't help but think he looked nice in the color, though she liked green best on him.

"It's nothing fancy, don't worry," Astrid said and sipped from her own cup as Hiccup sat down, his knees just reaching above the crate, so he sat sideways to be more comfortable.

"Fancy enough for me," he said and smiled, taking a bite of the stew. "Oh, this is delicious," he said after taking a bite. "Did you make it?"

Astrid scrunched up her face as she was chewing, and when she swallowed she laughed. "No, actually, Auda did. Mom's been making her cook every night for 'practice'. She's cooked these last couple of nights because mom's been gone on Meathead Island. She and Arnheim are going to be gone for the midsummer festival because they're spending it with their respective children," Astrid said with a crooked brow and a tiny smirk, hinting at things Hiccup didn't quite pick up on.

"Oh, yeah, the midsummer festival is two days away. Totally forgot," Hiccup chuckled and took a bite of soda bread.

"I made a dress for it I think you'll really like," Astrid smiled and raised a brow and Hiccup's eyebrows quickly did the same.

"Oh, really? I can't wait to see it, then," he smiled even more and took a sip of mead. His brows furrowed when he tasted the sweet alcohol, looking at Astrid questioningly over the rim of the cup.

"My dad doesn't drink, but that doesn't mean my mom can't," she said and Hiccup understood.

"Soo," he said, smacking his lips and setting down the glass.

"Soo?" Astrid played along, taking a bite of bread.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you. How has it been?" he asked, his free right hand touching her free left over the crate-table, his fingers rough but touching light and softly over the top of her hand. His subtle contact made Astrid's heart jump into gear and she got more excited, but she pretended like she didn't even notice though it was hard to think about anything else.

"It's been fine, nothing's really happened. I worked on that dress all week until today. Finally went out and threw my axe after what the gods know how long. It was nice. Did that all day," she said casually, keeping her eyes carefully lowered to avoid giving away what she was thinking because she knew for a fact Hiccup would be able to tell. "What have you been doing?" she tilted her head inquisitively and flicked her eyes up to his for no longer than a second, her fingers slowly turning his hand around to tickle his rough palm.

He sighed, poking his knife in the stew. "I've been hanging around my dad a lot, believe it or not. He's starting to show me what chief duties are and such, but I helped him form up new treaties that needed to be renewed. It's been really boring. From dawn until dusk I was pretty much at Mead Hall all this week," he said like it was the most boring thing ever, but Astrid was really quite interested. "Today, I finally came back here to continue on this stupid weapon pile Gobber left me," he looked over to the considerably depleted pile. "Senile old man."

Astrid laughed, knowing that to be more than true, and Hiccup just smiled; he missed her laugh, too. "Well, sounds like you had the best time of your life," she commented.

Hiccup chuckled, nodding. "Absolutely."

"You got a speck of charcoal or something on your nose," Astrid said after pausing and staring at his nose, reaching up and brushing his nose with her thumb.

"Are you sure it's not a freckle? I've got plenty of them," he said with a scrunched face, laughing and trying to keep his head still as she rubbed it.

"No, your freckles are cute, this one definitely isn't," Astrid said, but when she started rubbing harder Hiccup swatted her head away and rubbed at it himself, figuring he was most likely blushing.

"Thank you, my sweet," he said sarcastically, but Astrid could see the smiling look to his eyes.

"Of course, sweetheart," she replied back with the same tone and hints of a tiny blush, eating more of the stew.

Hiccup dropped his hand and puffed out his chest, tossing his head pompously. "Darling, this supper is truly fantastic. The stew is impeccable," he said in a strange accent that made Astrid giggle like no other, so taking her response, he added. "May I ask what is so funny? I'm being completely serious here, darling. What is it?"

"You fool," Astrid said through delighted giggles, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup said and faltered into a laugh but kept up his façade. "I am merely complementing you on this fan-ta-bulous supper you set forth _pour moi_."

Astrid couldn't help but throw her head back and burst out laughing and Hiccup did the same, covering his face with his hand. Between laughs he drank from his cup, having to purse his lips tightly when he pulled the cup away from his mouth. Astrid still giggled between taking bites, her eyes glistening with tears. After a good five minutes, Hiccup sighed. "Never doing that again, darling," They burst out laughing again but this time it was shorter lived as they both grew hungry again.

"Thor's beard," Astrid said and let out a long breath, finishing up her mead just as Hiccup finished his and poured them another cup.

"What's up with these names? I never thought we'd call each other names," Hiccup said and took another bite of bread.

"You can, I won't ever," Astrid said with an ending chuckle.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed jokingly with a slim smile on his face. "I see how it is now. I have to say all the sickening stuff and you get to sit there and laugh."

Astrid nodded, really trying not to laugh again. "Pretty much."

"Great, that's cool," Hiccup tossed up a hand sarcastically and ate more of his stew until he finished and Astrid served him up another helping. They talked a long time about any and all matters of their supper, downing one cup and then another until the delicious fuzzy feeling filled their stomachs but they were still somewhat coordinated. Hiccup shared his story about finding his father in the apron and they laughed some more together until they were full with supper. After a couple more updating stories, Astrid pulled out the blueberry pie and felt when she could practically see Hiccup's mouth water.

"I made the filling on this one so it's the best," she said and smiled.

"Must be. I haven't had pie in forever," Hiccup said and took a bite when she allowed him and his eyes widened like it was the best possible pie in existence, quickly taking another bite.

Absentmindedly while talking, they finished their pie off and sat with full stomachs while sharing opinions on what treaties Hiccup helped write up and how strange Hallbera was acting, all the way to talking about the festival.

"Are you going to pull me in dancing again?" Astrid asked with a delicious smirk and Hiccup leaned over and kissed her for a fourth time.

"I don't think I have to. You seemed to like it enough last time," he said and Astrid swatted his arm.

"There's going to be a slow dance. There always is. Because we _know_ you're simply the best dancer this side of the sea," Hiccup tossed his mop of bangs the same way again, "do you think you can do it?"

Hiccup furrowed his brows and huffed like it was nothing. "Yes, but the _real_ question here is… can you slow dance?"

Astrid glared up at him as he confidently smiled at her. "Of course I can!" she stated harshly but Hiccup shrugged, flaring her up more.

"I dunno, you kinda stumbled around a bit last time," he teased, taking her hard punch to his arm.

"Are you challenging me?" she demanded with a playful but serious glint in her eyes.

"Maybe," Hiccup said simply, but Astrid stood up and pulled him up with her, bringing him over to a cleared out space in the cluttered forge. "Seems like you're challenging me."

"Lead, because you're the man and you're supposed to," she said, taking his hand and holding it up and out and resting her other hand over his arm and on his shoulder blade.

"Okay, okay, no rush," Hiccup said with a light chuckle, setting his hand purposefully on the small of her back and he began to lead her around. There was a perpetual faint smile on his face as he twirled her around, her dress swishing at his legs and her foot kicking his boot more than once. He looked down at her and saw she was eyeing him as if saying 'shut up', and he said nothing at all but kept smiling. "Stand on my feet. Well, boot and prosthetic, so you know what I'm going to do at the festival."

"I know what you're going to do," she said childishly, her voice admitting that she did not know how to slow dance at all, and in fact, Hiccup didn't either, but he pretended to anyway. She took his advice and stood on his boot and the nook his prosthetic offered, a height difference of about an inch, but Astrid didn't notice as Hiccup pulled her closer and started spinning around again. He held her tightly, flush against his body, and it was an unspoken thing that they would blush simultaneously.

Astrid blinked up at him, taking the unusual smell of smoke coming off him and his perpetual scent of pine, making him smell like a forest fire. She let her eyes wander across his features, unable to keep the smile off her face, and in his glow, she found him inexplicably handsome. He was so gorgeous, with his bright emerald green eyes and deep brown hair and rusty-colored scruff and he was hers. _Damn right, he's mine_, she thought and she couldn't stop the pride from swelling in her stomach because he was wonderful and every girl ought to be jealous. And, she was also the one privileged enough to know what was beneath his shirt and pants, and with this thought she blushed more as his hand pressed further into her back.

"This is kinda funny," she whispered, and looking at him, she hardly felt like she was dancing, just floating.

"It is, isn't it?" Hiccup whispered back, but continued to waltz around the cleared space.

"But you're awfully good at it, I must say," she laughed quietly, not sure why she was whispering. "and I'm starting to like it."

"Me too," Hiccup smiled, and Astrid raised herself to her tip toes on top of Hiccup's own and kissed him fully, her mouth lovely and plush around his for a good few seconds until he dropped the dancing pose and held her jaw in his hands. He kissed her affectionately back, stroking his thumbs on her cheeks and running his hands over her long and soft blonde hair down her back, pulling her close again when she stepped off his feet. Their kisses became a bit more ravaging when Astrid raked her fingers through his bangs and down his the side of his face to his neck, unintentionally lighting a burning fire in his stomach.

He pushed her up against the nearest counter and Astrid gave a little 'meep!' of surprise at his taking initiative, but in no way could deny she liked it. Hiccup's hand when just about everywhere; down her sides to her hips, over her shoulder blades, and even up her skirt a little bit to drag along her thigh. It didn't go much further than fun re-exploring and making out after a week without seeing each other, and after a bit Hiccup rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"My mouth is tired," he laughed with an embarrassed tone to his voice, but Astrid simply giggled, stroking his hair comfortingly and smoothing it down.

"Mine is, too. We need to get back into kissing a lot again," she said and wrapped her arms around him, enjoying simply just hugging him. He snaked his arms around her waist and nuzzled his nose into her neck, giving her very faint kisses on her warm skin.

"Yes, we do," he murmured adamantly against her neck and she giggled softly when it sent shivers down her spine.

Astrid helped Hiccup close up the forge for the next day and he helped her pack supper back into her basket. Together they walked hand-in-hand to Hiccup's house because it was closer to the forge than Astrid's. She left him at the doorstep with a goodnight kiss and walked home, a couple yawns escaping her notice. The house was quiet when she walked inside, the fire slowly dying and Brandan's light snores filling up what would have been silence.

Astrid crawled tiredly into her bed, wondering what on earth love was.

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Okay, you can't deny that Stoick would totally wear an apron. I want this drawn. OMG


	13. Chapter 12

Thank you so much everyone! You're all too kind. If I could, I would give you all the biggest and bestest hugs you have ever witnessed-I've been told I give AWESOME hugs, by the way, to it'll be great. It will. But because of this internet thing, I give you this chapter in replacement of hugs. I hope you enjoy because it's a really smutty chapter, omg. Omg. Just read.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Twelve

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The day before the midsummer festival, Hiccup received a knock on the sill of the window at the forge. In the middle of hammering a scythe for Mr. Thorston, he rolled his eyes and shouted, "Come in!" he was not in the mood to be bothered by customers since he's been getting them non-stop.

When the door didn't open, he looked up and wiped his forehead with the back of his soot-covered glove, furrowed his brows and walked to the window. He leaned out of it and looked side to side as Dagger watched curiously from the bellows. Sighing with hidden frustration, Hiccup turned to continue his work until he saw something folded lying on the sill.

Pausing, he pulled off his gloves and tucked them under his arm and picked up the parchment carefully as if he might break it, and opening it, he looked over his shoulder secretly to see if Dagger was watching for there was something written. In sloppy handwriting Hiccup had to read slowly for, it read:

_Meet me at the waterhole tonight. And I swear, do _not_ run into any twin or I will murder you. _

_A_

He smiled down at the small sheet of parchment, finding it awfully endearing that the perfect and impeccable Astrid Hofferson would have such messy handwriting and would smear practically the whole page with charcoal. For a long moment he looked at the simple letter until Dagger squeaked out his name.

"Huh?" Hiccup spun around quickly, stuffing the letter into his pocket and looking all innocent, shuffling back over to the anvil.

"What's that?" Dagger pointed to his pocket, his big eyes wide in childish curiosity.

Hiccup hid his blush by turning away and going back to molding the steel. "It's nothing," but he couldn't hide his smile.

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Astrid walked to Ruffnut's house after dropping off her little note, carrying her own basket of sewing supplies, a few things taken from Hallbera's. She knocked on the Thorston's door and Hilda answered it with her two youngest daughters racing outside to wrestle in the street. She called for Ruffnut from wherever she was after greet Astrid with a warm smile and a pat to her shoulder, and a few seconds later Ruffnut showed up at the door with her own basket.

Together, the two girls walked through the village and Astrid brought Ruffnut up to date about Auda and Brandan and her mother and how Auda was pregnant and where her mother was attending on her sister and how arrogant her father was. Ruffnut talked about her own family and how her oldest brother was getting married, Tuffnut and his prospects on Snaggletooth, and her three younger sisters and how messy they were. Once they arrived at their sewing-spot, Astrid pulled out one of her old tunics with a tear in the hem, smirking rather deviously.

Sitting across Astrid in the shade, Ruffnut narrowed her eyes and glared at her, trying to figure out her motives. "What's with that face?" she asked in a sharp tone, threading a needle to resize a shirt for one of her sisters.

"Just the other day before we went to the waterhole, you said you weren't the only one 'busy'. What does that mean?" Astrid asked inquisitively with a slight tilt of her head, pushing her already threaded needle through the fabric and smiled when Ruffnut blushed. She was terrible at hiding her feelings.

"You can't tell a single soul," Ruffnut said, suddenly very serious, her blue-gray eyes steely. "You have to swear on your life. You can't even tell Hiccup."

"Okay," Astrid held up a hand in submission. "I swear. Now spill it."

"Okay," Ruffnut sighed, pausing on her needlework, fiddling around with the fabric and her eyes downcast, trying to figure out what to say. Astrid read her like a book, she always could, and that was one of the things she liked about their relationship. She always felt like she had the upper hand when talking about things. Ruffnut took a breath and said on her exhale, "I really like Fishlegs."

"Ohh," Astrid raised her brows though she was totally unsurprised. "I knew it. You two were always next to each other the other night. I think he may have thought you appealing in that wet tunic."

"Shut up!" Ruffnut flared red, punching Astrid when she laughed. "When did get so teasing?" Astrid shrugged. "Well, it turns out we were right about each other. You like the toothpick—obviously I was right—and I like the burly guy who knows too much about dragon stats," Ruffnut said offhandedly, smiling.

"He's definitely not a toothpick anymore," Astrid replied, tying a knot.

"What? So you've seen him shirtless?" Ruffnut asked a bit excitedly and Astrid just rolled her eyes.

"Yup. He actually had a cool scar," she told her the story behind it in Dublin and Ruffnut barked out laughing.

"I never pegged him as a drinker or a brawler. That job's up to me and Tuffnut."

"I know, but he doesn't like fighting or drinking. He's just scared to turn down someone's offer of a drink."

Ruffnut bypassed the comment. "So does that mean you've made out?"

Astrid blushed and purposefully looked downwards. "That's none of your business," she said in finality, but knowing Ruffnut, she wouldn't leave it alone.

"Oh, come on. If I tell you something, will you tell me something?" Ruffnut urged, leaning over her work to Astrid, her eyes wide and goading. Astrid looked at her with narrowed eyes, biting her lip, unsure whether to consent to the deal or not. But she really wanted to know what Ruffnut and Fishlegs were up to so it was only fair to give some bits about her own relationship with Hiccup.

"Fine. You go first," she said before she would change her mind.

"Okay, fine. So Fish came over yesterday and we made out behind the shed and he touched my boob. End of story. Your turn," Ruffnut said with a ferocious blush while Astrid chuckled.

She sighed before telling Ruffnut her own piece. "So, I brought Hiccup supper last night and I brought a bottle of mead with me—that we didn't finish—so we were a little tipsy and we danced a little bit…," she paused to see if Ruffnut would reprimand her for her girlish ways, but to her amazement, she kept listening patiently with eager eyes. "and he pushed me against the counter and we made out. There. Happy now?"

"But how did you see him with his shirt off?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm curious. I wanna get Fish's shirt off."

"Then _take_ it off."

"But I want to know how you did it."

"Why?"

"Because!"

Astrid raised a thin brow, eying her. "Are you asking me for advice?"

Ruffnut had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Kind of."

Astrid lowered her head in embarrassed surprise. She had never given actual _advice_ before; before, she would usually boss people around and tell them how they should do it this way, or they have to do it that way, and, in the first place, it was never about _boys_. What did Astrid know about boys? She knew the majority of them were annoying and obnoxious and talked about girls' boobs all the time with the occasional—sometimes funny—sexual joke. And besides, not many of them were smart or gracious or kind, like Hiccup. Hiccup was an indefinite outlier, she knew that full well, but she didn't know about Fishlegs very much. She was even surprised Ruffnut liked him in the first place. Barely a month ago she was all about getting into Helsplitter's pants and now Fishlegs? What did he do to catch her attention? Spew facts about Zipplebacks?

"Uhm," Astrid swallowed, really trying to give 'advice'. When was the last time she helped someone out of the kindness in her heart? She doubted she even had kindness. Hiccup had loads of kindness. _What would he say? _Astrid thought, then giggled because he wouldn't even be able to talk about taking her shirt off without fumbling over himself and turning into a human tomato. With that thought in mind, she felt a little more clearheaded and continued. "Well, you can't just take it off at the start. That's going too fast, unless you guys are in a hurry or something. You gotta go slow."

"'Go slow'?" Ruffnut repeated like she had no idea what she meant.

"Yeah, it's going to be hard for you," Ruffnut laughed in full agreement, "but it builds up suspension; they like that. Slow and teasing."

"Slow and teasing."

"Mhm. Of course kiss while you're doing it, smile… maybe, uhm. Push against him a little bit," Astrid herself was becoming a little flustered just thinking about it. She was so excited to see Hiccup shirtless again, she almost forgot she was talking to Ruffnut and not about her _boyfriend_. "Have fun, mainly."

"I didn't know Astrid Hofferson could have fun," Ruffnut smirked, sewing a few stitches. Astrid smiled and descended into her thoughts, ever-consumed by Hiccup. Talking about these things with Ruffnut gave her ideas for tonight, and with a racing heart, she decided to do them all. Go big or go home.

"He's so _tall_," Ruffnut said like it was an afterthought, furrowing her brows.

"Who?" Astrid asked. She hadn't been listening.

"Fishlegs. I have to, like… stand on my tip-toes to even get to his mouth. It's cool though because he's all muscle-y now, not big and chubby like he was before. Aaaaall muscle," she smiled proudly, sewing a few more stitches. "No cool scars though, but that's okay. He taught me how to reel in a net, told me stuff about halibut and salmon mating processes. He's a big dork."

"Dorks are good," Astrid said slowly, beginning to not pay attention again.

"Yeah… they're not like 'Lout or Tuff who are just all about girls and getting into their pants. You know, 'Lout likes this new girl named Foxtail but she's such a snob and I just kinda want to deck her in the face…," Ruffnut said, going into a whole ordeal about Foxtail said that, I said that, then this happened, and now this, and Astrid only heard bits and pieces. She learned to drown out most of Ruffnut's speeches out like she had with her mother, and only listened when important pieces came up, adding the occasional 'mhm' or 'yeah'.

It was an hour or two sewing before Ruffnut had to go home and help with some farm duties, so Astrid walked home silently. She put her basket of sewing supplies away in the living room and found Auda scrubbing counters in the kitchen after cutting up some meat. Astrid picked up a plum and ate it, watching her sister scrub with her sleeves pulled up, debating whether or not to ask her the question that has been fermenting in her mind all day.

"Spit it out, Astrid—no, not the plum, stupid," Auda snapped and corrected when Astrid was about to spit out her plum, thinking it was bad though it didn't taste so. "What do you want?"

"Are you mad?" Astrid asked because if she was, she certainly wasn't going to ask her any obscure questions because she knew the consequences.

"No, I'm just tired. I can't get any sleep," Auda said, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Is it because of Brandan?"

"No, it's not him. I don't know why," Auda sighed, cleaning off the soap from the cutting board with a wet rag. "It might be this baby. I have no idea."

Looking at her, Astrid saw purple spots beginning to form on the pale skin under her eyes. She really did look tired. "It's only been, like, two months maybe."

"I know, that's why I don't know why I'm so tired."

"Are you sick?"

"I don't _know_, Astrid," Auda snapped, throwing the scrubbing brush in the bucket on the counter. "Now, what is it you want to ask? Does it have to do with Hiccup?"

"Yes," Astrid replied sheepishly, looking down at the split skin of her half-eaten plum.

"Then ask, for Thor's sake. I told you that you could confide in me," Auda said impatiently, going to the back door to dump the water into the grass.

"It's not a confiding question," Astrid said, taking another small bite, wiping the juice off from around her mouth. Auda put the bucket away underneath the counter and dried off the cutting board, waiting patiently. "Uhm… what does love mean?" she asked in a quiet voice, making positive she wasn't looking at Auda in any way because she knew her sister could practically read minds like their mother, one of her scary attributes.

"It means something different to everybody," Auda replied calmly, hardly taken aback by her younger sister's question.

"That doesn't help," Astrid said with a blank face. "Definitions, here."

Auda sighed, wiping off some counters. "There isn't a solid definition of 'love', Diddy. It's different for everyone. But, I can kind of explain to you what forelsket is," she said. (6)

Astrid furrowed her brows. "What's that?" she went to the door to throw her plum outside.

"It's that exciting rush you feel when falling in love for the first time. Like when you see that person, you feel all tingly and jumpy and you can't quit smiling. It's exciting. It's fun. You're stupid, totally in love," Auda said in a drawling voice, taking the broom from the wall and beginning to sweep. "That's forelsket. But, when you truly love someone, Astrid, all their problems are put before yours; at least you feel they should be because you care so much about them. You would still love them even if they left you for someone else, even if they died. It's a powerful thing, not to be taken lightly or toyed with like some younger girls are doing these days."

Astrid nodded, taking up her words like a sponge. "Okay," She still didn't understand.

"Feel free to love whom you wish, but don't be dumb about it. I like Hiccup and so does mom, but that doesn't change much. It's shitty for you and I'm sorry, but… you know what I've told you," Auda said seriously just when Astrid was leaving the kitchen, holding the broom still in her hands.

"I know. I've taken that into consideration," Astrid smiled gently. "Thanks," she said, then left to her room upstairs to ponder on what Auda said.

Auda did not make supper that night, leaving her charges, Brandan and Astrid, to make and find their own supper. Brandan made some strange, outlandish, not-really-Irish dish made from random ingredients from the cupboard and it was surprisingly delicious. Instead of going to her room after supper, Astrid simply 'snuck out' the front door while Brandan was telling his wife some funny joke he heard earlier in the day from the barley fields.

She walked to the waterhole, feeling her hands sweat, her heart squelch and squeeze and race uncomfortable, and she was half-tempted to turn around and hide under her pillow. She felt like she suddenly didn't want to do this but at the same time she really wanted to. It was going to be fun, it will be, she kept telling herself,_ I've done it before_. There was nothing to worry about, nothing at all. It was going to be fun.

She walked around a bend in the grassy path around a large maple and aw Hiccup with his back to her, his head raised, hands in his pockets. _He's here_, she thought, exhaling quietly. She stood and admired him for a moment, taking in his slim shape, his wider-set shoulders, his skinny and muscled legs beneath his trousers that were tighter than the other ones he's worn. He stood with his feet apart, looking immoveable and strong, and in his tunic that also looked a bit too small and tight on him, she admired the curve of his back while he looked up and his firm butt just below his belt she suddenly had the urge to pinch, just to see if he was real. She wanted to look at him all day, take mental notes on the things she loved about him, like that one darker freckle among the hundreds on his knuckle, or that tiny pale scar on his chin, even to the way the faint red-brown hair brushed across his arms. She was never observant to people, only situations and the area around her, honed and perfected with axe in hand. Astrid wasn't used to this new feeling, but if it was with Hiccup, she could stand it.

Hiccup turned around and her tangent was broken, but he looked at her for a long, smiling moment, pleased to see her. She took a step forward with a timid smile, already blushing red from just his eyes on her unworthy face. "Have you been here long?" she asked, walking up next to him, folding her arms behind her back so as to not fiddle with her hands. _Everything about him… well, not everything, he's still an annoying, stupid twit but everything else is… _

"No… I was just admiring the sky," Hiccup said quietly, his hair blowing in the gentle summer breeze. Astrid looked up and saw what he saw; a beautiful gradient from blue to purple to red, the clouds deep in color, stretched like the finest cotton but lumpy and tall in other places. It reminded Astrid of the giant sky when she first took flight with him so long ago, the only time since when she's been able to touch the clouds themselves and breath them in.

"Your head is always in the clouds," Astrid said, her head still craned upwards.

"I know," he said, and without looking at him, she could hear the smile in his voice.

After a quiet moment, Astrid pulled Hiccup's hand out of his pocket. "Come. We're skinny dipping again," she brought him to the grassy staircase that led down the short, steep hill to the flatter area, opening up to the forest.

"I thought so. You sounded so eager in your note," Hiccup said while chuckling a bit, making Astrid smile and roll her eyes.

Slyly, she said over her shoulder, "You should be more eager."

Hiccup raised his brows so far it was hard to see them through his bangs. Astrid laughed while he ushered, "Ohoh. Should I now?" he sensed her playfulness when she pulled him in front of her and took a few steps away from him, a tiny seductive smile on her face he instantly fell in love with all over again, knowing good things were to come.

"You should be very… eager," she said in a sultry voice, cocking a lovely brow and moved her hips a bit more than normal as she took some more tiny steps back.

"Oh… okay," Hiccup chuckled nervously when she pulled off her fillet and let it drop next to her, shaking her thick mane of hair out to drape down her back to reveal her luscious golden collarbone, lit from the fading light through the tips of the tall firs. She looked at him in the eye like she was about to attack him (which he actually wouldn't have minded at this point), and she slowly brought her hands down her front to unbuckle her belt.

Feeling her confidence grow tremendously as his eyes feasted on her, Astrid said in a voice that would make any man go mad with lust, "I'm not going alone," and Hiccup was such a man.

"O-oh, ri-right," he bowed his head with a deep scarlet blush and kicked off his boot while unbuckling his own belt.

"Hold on, dragon rider. Look up," Astrid's voice was as smooth as the silk of her dress for the midsummer festival tomorrow, and as silky as it was, Hiccup's eyes slowly flicked upward. She pulled the hem of her knee-length dress up slowly, holding it just so with her thighs pressed together so she looked like a ravished milk maid. Hiccup reveled in the sight of her, the very _last_ thing he would expect of his girlfriend. He swallowed hard as she crossed her hands and pulled up her dress, revealing the sight of her white and innocent underwear. A little more and he saw the shadows casted across her sharp hips, and slowly, teasingly, up a little more, and he saw her navel and the slight lines her strong, flat stomach created from training her whole life. He could feel his mouth practically water in lust for her.

This was so fun. Astrid had no idea torturing Hiccup in this way could be so much fun. She shouldn't have worried at all! She could see his eyes almost literally eating her alive. _Go slow… it builds suspension, they like that_. Oh, how right she was. She felt so awesome. She loved the attention, his eyes going everywhere on her body, taking in every pale inch from where he was. She purposefully stood in the brightest ray of dimming light so her hair glowed, but she didn't know the effects the light was actually causing until she pulled her dress completely over her head and looked down to see the indentation between her small breasts. Pushed together and bound beneath the strip of cloth, she was surprised but pleased and laughed when a breeze passed through and made her nip.

Hiccup's mouth twitched into a smile at her laugh, her hands cupping her breasts, and Gods, she was so sexy and beautiful. He pulled his own tunic off over his head with some struggle. When he came back to Berk, he had plenty of tunics up until they all became dirty after multiple uses, and after missing the last couple of laugardagur's, he was resorting to the smaller tunics in the back of his dresser drawers. But, nonetheless, he threw the tunic aside and stood, his hands sweating as he slowly and absentmindedly untied the laces to his trousers.

"Not quite naked yet," Astrid said, reaching behind herself to pull apart the hook and eye bindings along her spine. Slowly, she brought the cloth around herself, biting her lip, her hip cocked just so. Her blush deepened when she unwound it completely and she stood with her hands on her hips with a shy smile but screamed 'come closer', though Hiccup did not move, his mouth going dry. His eyes took his favorite pair of breasts in, the only ones he's ever had the privilege to see, but he knew hers where his favorite and would always be. Since the days he started sketching people, he always knew that women's bodies were beautiful to him; the curves, the shapes, the forms, the variations. From the curvier women on Berk to the more slender ones, he thought they were all beautiful in their own way though he didn't have any particular feelings to the woman, and some he didn't even know.

She pulled down her underwear with the same aggravating slowness, and when she stood straight and kicked off her underwear, Hiccup could have nearly melted. Looking at her body fully as he never had the opportunity to before (streaking, yes, but he wasn't paying attention), he didn't have a word to describe her own body. She was slim with a small ribcage and a not-too-tiny-but-not-too-thin waist and hips that were hard to discern unless one saw the curve of her waist line. She wasn't by any means curvaceous but she wasn't cylindrical like a man's body, but her butt made up for what little hips she had. She had a nice butt. She turned to wade into the water with an enticing smile and her rounded, firm but tender bottom came into his view and his eyes curved hungrily around the neat little bump.

He loved her. He loved her so much. Everything she was, everything she is, was so beautiful and lovely he almost couldn't take it. She ticked him off on multiple occasions and she punched too hard for her own good and was immensely confusing and tirelessly demanded and ordered and pushed him a bit too far, but he found he still loved her through all her womanly complexities and diverse moods and emotions. As she waded into the water, his eyes following her like a magnet, Hiccup felt hot and bothered between his legs but yet he was happy and content because he loved Astrid Hofferson with all his heart.

"Are you coming in?" Astrid turned and asked, the water coming up to where her ribcage split.

"Yeah," Hiccup nearly whispered, pulling down his trousers and underwear and rested the metal end of his prosthetic on his knee so he could unbuckle the straps around his leg to take it off. He hopped in on one foot and Astrid smiled and watched him as intently as he watched her, her blue eyes taking in the curve of his bare shoulders and the rounded muscles of his arms, the tendons in his hands. She turned her head and beckoned him farther; knowing that looking at every inch of him was for later.

Astrid walked farther into the water until she couldn't touch anymore, sinking underwater to swim more into the heart of the pond. She swam through the water effortlessly, seeming to glide through like a knife in butter, the chill water heightening her senses. She turned in the water so she emerged facing his direction, and when she opened her eyes after using a hand to wipe water from them, she saw he was closer than the last time she saw him. Hiccup had already swum under so his hair was pushed from his face to show all his freckles and the handsome thickness to his eyebrows. He smiled and she stopped swimming away from him so he could come up to kiss her, his mouth warm and inviting. Astrid figured he could still touch since he pulled her close to him without having to tread water, his arms wrapping tight around the middle of her back, her breasts pressed into his collarbone so he had to raise his head a bit to kiss her.

Astrid ran her hands over his wet hair, tracing her fingers along his stubbly jaw that needed a trim, and pulled away from him just as it was getting good. Hiccup looked at her with confused and disappointed eyes and she could only laugh. "Don't look like such a puppy," she said and pushed against him so he let go.

"Why do you tease me?" Hiccup asked with hints of restrained desire in his voice, allowing a bit of a groan through his words. Astrid swam away like a fish, her smile tauntingly huge.

She didn't respond and instead swam over to the small trickling waterfall along the high face of the cliff. Hiccup followed her, his stomach still tight from wanting her like nothing else before. He didn't like seeing things he couldn't touch or feel with his hands since he's always been able to be hands-on, working in a forge. And by her denying his touch was like asking him to quit sketching or working with tools. He felt like he was somehow cheated but he kept wanting her more and more until such desire and lust made him feel so unlike himself.

"You're going to sit on this rock and you're going to wait and like it," Astrid said, standing just next to a flat rock, showing him her full front to her hips. She didn't notice the way her looked at her, mixed with a bit of annoyance but still with that unyielding need to touch her. Instead of arguing with her because he didn't want to sit and wait, he did what she told him, folding one foot under his knee and letting his amputated leg sit in the water, the rim just coming past the stump. He held his crotch to not be absolutely revealed, and when she stepped down from whatever rock she stood on, she snorted at his childish expression. "Don't look like that or I'll send you home without anything."

Hiccup looked at her for a second longer then looked away to the rock face. "Fine. What are you going to do?" he watched her swim away to one of the large boulders in the pond.

"Something," she said with hints of a devious smirk he knew well, swimming under and disappearing.

Hiccup sat and waited at the waterfall for almost fifteen minutes, wondering the entire time what the Hel she was doing. Midway through he considered hopping off and looking for her because she wouldn't have left him high and dry (or wet) unless she was doing something, but it took her so _long_. _Did she go and take a bath or something? She didn't bring anything with her, so that's a no. No, I know what she's doing. She's making me wait on her on her_ purpose.

"Astrid! This isn't funny!" Hiccup shouted, the sun completely gone from the tips of the trees but he could still see shards of light though the sky was getting darker. "Seriously, Astrid!" he groaned and hit his head on the rock behind him, shaking some chunks loose at the back of his head and some falling along his temples. He reached up to scratch his cheek, furrowing his brows farther. "Astrid. Come out; come out, wherever you are. You should've said we were playing hide and seek. This isn't funny. I'm going to catch a cold and die in the middle of summer. Astrid."

"Can you shut up for five minutes?" Astrid said with a laugh, twenty feet away, her exposed head coming closer with her wet dark blonde hair pushed back. She looked exactly as she did fifteen minutes ago and that only irked Hiccup a bit more.

"Where have you been?" he demanded like he was her mother, voice hard and stern. "Thor's beard, Astrid, it's been fifteen minutes and I'm freezing."

"Oh, shut up. You're such a drama queen," Astrid said lightly, swimming slowly. "It's not cold out tonight. You're over exaggerating."

"No! You disappeared and left me sitting here naked. I am not over exaggerating."

Astrid threw her head back and laughed, making Hiccup's mouth close tighter in frustration. "Relax. I'm here now, princess, and I'm not going anywhere," Oh, how Hiccup hated her teasing. "_just_ like I've said," she added in a different tone, now about ten feet from him and Hiccup could see the different look in her eye when she spoke. Instantly, his mind forgot all about the things he wanted to say to her and instead looked at her intriguingly.

She came closer to him, now in front of him by five or so feet, an stood up on the bed of rocks and sand the waterfall deposited, emerging from the water like a selkie, shed from her seals' skin (7). She had a new seductive and enchanting smile on her face, naked down to her knees as she walked towards him, Hiccup now entirely mesmerized. He blushed, his lips parting a little in a small, inaudible gasp, his eyes scrolling her body endlessly; down and up, up and down, all over her beautiful, the caramel-colored centers of her breasts, her navel, how her hips swayed as she walked, the blondey-brown dusting of hair between her legs. His livid green eyes feasted on the sight of her once again, his breath more or less caught in his throat or completely taken away. He blinked a couple of times, denying that she was real at all.

Hiccup had read tales about selkies and their impossible beauty, but he never thought he could actually see one with his own eyes. The water dripped down her skin in luscious trails like the morning dew or the sea water dripping down the jagged rocks, walking closer like a specter, pale in the dimming light. He watched her closely and never took his eyes off her even when she stood in front of him, bending over slowly and putting a knee on the rock so she could lean in. She opened her mouth to kiss him and his heart raced when she rested one hand on his shoulder, actually tangible, and he lifted a hand to touch her but she saw it and pushed it away. Astrid smiled and pulled away just as she was about to kiss him, a mischievous glint shining in her eyes. Hiccup couldn't be annoyed when she came forward and kissed him this time with her pink and plush lips. He melted into her, almost becoming slack until she pulled away again, kissing his Adam's apple. He raised his head to allow her more access and she kissed the rough underside of his chin, along his jaw to the space below his ear to kiss where he would with her, down his throat to the hollow at the curve of his collarbone.

Astrid looked at the scar, tracing it with gentle fingers before she kissed it with a flick of her eyes to his. Oh, _that_. That was sexy. Hiccup bit his lip and closed his eyes, his skin almost burning when she traced her barely-parted lips down his chest, her slightly rough hands following. Her fingers barely touched the sparse patch of maroon hair in the middle of his chest, down to where his stomach muscles began. Astrid kissed each ridge of muscle, reveling in the taste of his skin and each freckle or tiny mole, and even pushed his arms aside so she could get to his ribs. She loved how she could make Hiccup squirm and pant, his breath hitching in his throat before he took another breath when her lips met his wet and warm skin.

As she got lower, Hiccup felt himself grow a little bit harder at her amazing machinations. Her fingers glided across his skin like water, her lips making his spine tingle. When she started kissing the tapering crease his hips made, he could feel her eyelashes and her cool breath and the poke of her sharp nose, even the hard tips of her breasts along his thighs, now nearly weeping with desire. His hands grew ever tighter around his parts, but Astrid looked up at him through her lashes and smiled, kneeling in the water now, and pulled his fingers off himself as she took his wrist to move his hand. She pushed his legs apart and ran the palms of her hands over his thighs, barely covered in hair, and pressed her lips to the inside of his thigh.

He watched her, his hands fisted on the rock next to his legs, amazed she was actually doing this all for him. He felt touched that she made a note for him, made the effort to bring it to the forge, and even though he got annoyed with her, she still wanted to treat him. He did it for her but never expected to be repaid. He felt his heart swell with love for her, and though she looked less than innocent, he was glad it was Astrid. And he couldn't complain about her looking nothing remotely close to innocent because she wasn't and neither was he.

Astrid dipped her hand in the water before holding him tightly around his base and pumping a few times, almost seeming to force a loud moan from deep inside his throat. She kissed his throat, feeling the vibrations of his hitched breathing and a few little moans as she gracefully used her hand to stroke and knead him. She used her thumb to make circles around his pink head, making sure she reached all the tender and sensitive spots before using her tongue to trace around the tip of him, eventually engulfing him with her mouth as she continued to stroke and squeeze gently.

"Ahah…," Hiccup said through harsh breaths, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes and throwing his head back. He swore his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he reveled in the mind-blowing sensations that seemed to swallow him whole, tossing him around in warmth and bright lights. Though she was a bit rougher than he would have preferred, he could honestly say he liked it since both of them were gentle and unsure in the past, and now that they were getting more comfortable with what they were doing and how each other responded, she was definitely experimenting and it felt so _good_. He could _for sure_ handle rough until she seriously hurt him, but Astrid was rough in the first place so he figured she was doing it how she wanted instead of getting nervous and flustered like her first go on this kind of thing. She was so _awesome_.

Astrid traced her short-but-there nails along the inside of his thigh where it was most sensitive, making him shudder and break out into another guttural moan. She was even hardly using her teeth along him to make it feel ten times more mind-blowing-ly awesome. He had no idea what else she was doing, but whatever it was, it was really good and really great and really just everything. The first time does not compare to this. Not at all. This is a hundred times better. So much better he couldn't even think straight; Hiccup could only think about the sensations that relentlessly bombarded him and threw him into a frenzy of moans and tight breathing that made him feel like he had ran here. She totally thought this out, he figured, with the note and the strip tease and now this—not a hundred, a thousand times better than last time. In his dizzying frenzy, the familiar lights began to pop and he knew he couldn't hold off any longer.

"A-Astri-id," he mumbled, her movements becoming more seamless and faster as she knew he was reaching his peak. With heavier breaths, Hiccup throbbed and with grinding teeth and a deep guttural moan, he bent forward and gripped Astrid's shoulders as her mouth filled with his fluids. He fell limp against the rock and she spat out what she had in her mouth into the water and wiped off what fell down her chin and splattered on her cheek on the rock.

She watched Hiccup's chest rise and fall with a triumphant smile, knowing that with his eyes closed peacefully she did well. "Your once-future children are floating in the water," Astrid said with a laugh, pulling herself up to sit on the rock next to him.

Hiccup huffed out a laugh once, too exhausted to give it his full effort. "That's a bit morbid," he said, smiling and kissing her forehead.

Astrid grinned and planted her lips on his cheek and then his mouth for a few seconds before ruffling his hair. "Let's go swim now."

"Too exhausted. Can't… move," Hiccup said purposefully like he was almost falling asleep.

Astrid splashed him and jumped back into the water. "You're handsome and gorgeous, Hiccup, but you're not a princess yet."

"You already called me one."

"That was before I blew your mind."

"True."

00

(6) I pretty much explained forelsket. It's a legitimate Norwegian term.

(7) Selkies are the Celtic/Viking/Faroese/Scottish version of mermaids. When they're in the ocean, they take the form of seals, but they can shed their seals' skin and walk on land as beautiful women or men. They can only have contact with a particular human for a short amount of time before having to return to the ocean, and the only way to prevent this is to hide or burn their seal skin.

Goddamn. This chapter was something else to write up. I was _not _in the mood to write this, so I hope it's not puke-worthy.


	14. Chapter 13

Village festival time, lots of drinking, so you're warned. But it's really funny. drunk!Ruffnut makes another appearance, lmfao.

I'm so glad I got this typed up, amigaaad. It's been so long! It feels so awesome to get back to writing and such again, but I still have schoolwork in between )': It won't be like summer for a looong time for me. Glad I got my college apps in, though, holy moley. Phew!

Enjoy the new chapter, my lovelies.

00

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter 13

00

All day long, starting at first light, volunteers helped set up the festival decorations outside where it would be held in a grass field just a bit away from the center of the village. Poles were thrust in the ground with baskets of beautiful flowers and strung together with oil lamps, creating a lovely summer-themed site for the summer festivities. Tables and benches were brought from the Hall into the field and fifty barrels of mead, wine and beer were rolled from the cellars along with crates of goblets and mugs and tankards and plates and knives. The smell of delicious mutton, pig, chicken, turkey, beef and the freshest fish wafted throughout the entire village all day from the kitchens of the Hall, and everyone's mouths watered with hungry and eager smiles at the upcoming celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

From her home on the farther end of the lower village, Astrid could smell the faint essence of rosemary the cooks were so great at using on chicken, and her stomach rumbled from her scrubbing position on the floor. Auda on the other side of the kitchen laughed, and not soon after, her stomach rumbled too. The two sisters decided to take a quick snack break.

Noticing how little Auda ate of her once slice of bread, Astrid asked, "You didn't eat much, but aren't you hungry?" Meanwhile, Astrid was cutting up her fourth slice of bread and a bit of apple and honey.

"I'm afraid I'll throw it up," Auda said in a disappointed tone though it was obvious she was a bit frustrated. "I've thrown up these past four fucking mornings."

Astrid raised her brows at her choice of words. "Damn."

"Yeah. Brandan thinks I'm dying, for Frigg's sakes. Gods, he can be so dumb," Auda rolled her eyes and huffed out a scoff. "I keep telling him it's normal for some pregnant women and _every _morning he says, 'Auda, yeh gotta go see the healer!'," she said perfectly in his accent. "and _every_ morning I want to smack him."

Astrid chuckled with a tightly closed mouth after shoving the rest of her food in. "Feems er edding vywent."

"Shut up!"

Astrid laughed some more after swallowing and tiptoed her way across the shining wooden floors to where she left her rag to continue scrubbing. "Tomorrow morning you'll be bawling because he _didn't_ tell you to go to the healer," The next thing Astrid knew, she had a soapy and wet rag right to her face.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was sitting in Mead Hall at the big center table around the dead fire on one of the few chairs left next to Snotlout. Stoick insisted one last meeting before the festival, though most of the council were either drooling at the smell of food or were falling asleep in the warmth, uncharacteristic of the Hall because it was situated in the mountain side. The cooks had been cooking since nearly dawn and the doors were wide open to let the hot summer air in, not helping the matter. Hiccup had drifted off in his thoughts on more than one occasion, gazing off to a carved pillar for a couple of minutes before someone sneezed or coughed or a louder voice spoke up. Snotlout next to him switched between resting his chin in his palm and attempting to sleep or balancing on the back two legs of his chair.

Thinking about some designs for Astrid's saddle he was still working on, Snotlout sat forward and stuck his head close to Hiccup, catching him off-guard. "Hey, Hiccup," Snotlout whispered quietly, trying to look casual, but as always, he looked quite obvious.

"What?" Hiccup replied, looking around to see if anybody had noticed anything.

"You're going out with Astrid, right?" he asked, his big blue eyes urging and intent, a crooked and wicked smile on his face. Hiccup saw he was missing a tooth in almost the same exact spot as his was missing. _Hm. Characteristic. _

"Uh… yeah," he didn't really want to answer because 'gossip' was a 'bad' thing, and he knew it too, but he figured the only person Snotlout would tell would be Tuffnut or Fishlegs, and he was sure both _occupied_ men would care less. They had their own women to worry about. But, Tuffnut does have a big mouth… _Oh, shit, _Hiccup thought, _if it gets to Astrid that I told Snotlout…._

"Have you banged her yet?" he bit his lip excitedly, his fingers drumming on the ledge of the table.

Hiccup furrowed his brows and his lip rose in a corner, completely confused. "What?"

"Have you _banged_ her yet?" Snotlout asked again, but when Hiccup still looked lost, he rolled his eyes and made a circle with his left hand and repeatedly poked his right index finger into the open hole, looking at Hiccup expectantly.

When he understood, Hiccup blushed and shook his head furiously, looking almost offended. "No! Of course not! It's too risky," he said in a harsh whisper at first until he saw somebody look their way, then toned his voice down and lead back casually in his chair.

"So? There are ways to get around that," Snotlout said calmly, swirling his thick finger on a wood pattern.

"Like what?" Hiccup asked disbelievingly.

Snotlout made an 'I don't know' noise, shrugging. "I let Agnes worry about that. She mentioned something about a tea from the healer or something. I don't know. I don't really care. Have you done anything else?"

Hiccup chewed his lip and chose to ignore his last prying question and asked, "Isn't Agnes engaged to Bjørnstaud or something?"

Snotlout looked forward and something fell out of him Hiccup couldn't quite place, something he had never seen before in his cousin. Loss? Disappointment? Hiccup realized he said the wrong thing when Snotlout looked down to the table and didn't say a word. "Sorry," Hiccup offered, but Snotlout just shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. It was only a week anyway," he said in a hard voice, keeping his eyes forward. Hiccup looked to the table and listened, trying to get back on track of where the conversation between the Hall was going before Snotlout whispered again. "There's going to be a bunch of girls getting drunk tonight though, so I've got my game set," he raised a victory fist to his shoulder with a confident and cocky smile on his face that Hiccup felt more comfortable with. He smiled back and listened to what his father was saying.

00

"No, Astrid, you're wearing that necklace whether it matches or not. You'll take Hiccup's breath away," Auda said, effectively cutting her sister off from further rebuttals, taking the Spooknoose scale necklace off Astrid's vanity and hooking it around her neck.

"But its blue…," Astrid said in a quiet voice, giving up since her blush gave her away.

"He's not going to _care._ Its sankthansaften, it happens once a year, and I swear to Freyja, you can't stand out enough in that dress so nobody's going to notice your _blue_ necklace. Makes your eyes pop anyway," Auda said while Astrid fixed her hair. "I mean, Odin, I'm wearing one of mom's old dresses I stole from her chest."

"That's my favorite one," Astrid said while putting on some droplets of rosewater on her wrists and neck and pinching her cheeks for lasting color.

"I know, and it's pretty, isn't it?" Auda said in a sudden change of voice, lifting up the flowing spring green and white skirt and twisting side to side to see it swish around her legs.

"Auda! Astrid!" Brandan called from downstairs.

"Just a second!" Auda called back in an irritated voice. "Don't wear your fillet. You want your hair loose, we're celebrating summer. Enjoy it while you can," Auda gestured to her huge knot of twisted braids at the nape of her neck. Astrid took her fillet off and shook her hair around.

"Anything else?" Astrid held her arms out as if allowing Auda to have a go at any other adjustments.

"Yeah," Auda crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. "Your face is too round, your ears too big, your nose too small," she winked and swiped a teasing finger under Astrid's chin. "You look great. Let's go."

Astrid followed Auda out of the door and down the narrow and steep staircase where Brandan was waiting at the door, all ready to go in his nice clothes. "What took yeh so long?" he asked when opening the door and letting the two women out first before shutting the door behind himself.

"None of your damn business," Auda said with a slim smile, tucking her hand into Brandan's elbow. The three walked in the road, all barefoot, toward the field where the festival was being held, a few other groups going in the same direction.

Brandan rolled his eyes, but through his dark close-cut beard, Astrid could clearly pick out a smile. "Why did I marry a crazy woman like you?" he said in a teasing tone, and when looking at his wife, his eyes sparkled a bit more and hers mirrored it. Astrid noticed the interaction, finding love in their eyes, and thought it was a beautiful thing to watch them be on tense words one moment and then swooning over each other the next. It looked simple and lovely.

Together, the three of them walked to the center grassy field where most of the village was starting to gather, sitting down at tables, children running around, everyone with a crown of flowers on their head. Some of the manlier Vikings simply carried the crowns or some even had their wives put it around their necks. There were handfuls of people handing them out with twenty or so looped around their arms, made by the hundreds earlier in the day, all made from daisies, dandelions, small tulips, and apple and plum blossoms. For the few who hadn't bathed in awhile, it was definitely an easy way to cover up their pungent scent. Astrid, Auda and Brandan put on their crowns and walked under the strings of lanterns and baskets of more flowers toward the tables. Auda and Brandan went off in another direction to find their friends and Astrid went to scout for signs of hers.

Walking around and scanning tables, Astrid didn't fail to recognize some stares and whispers from a few other village women. A few even came up to her and asked her about the dress and she simply told them it was a mix between silk and linen, but when they were about to ask another question, she was gone before they could speak. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want the nosey women coming up and forming crowds and she didn't want a million questions, only to sit down and eat. And show off to Hiccup.

With people standing around and talking loudly and forming into annoying bunches, Astrid didn't see the boy in question come up behind her in his own nice clothes his father made him wear. "Astrid," Hiccup said behind her, adjusting his vest that was over his tunic. She turned around in surprise, not expecting Hiccup to pop up behind her, and at the sight of him, her eyes widened a little. He looked so _nice_. The vest over his tunic was a light tan in color, tucked into his thick belt with a big buckle around his hips, his tunic a light green and the short sleeves were loose but just tight enough to show off his arms, embroidered in intricate Celtic knots with gold-lacquered string. The tunic was just long enough to reach above his knees, in front he wore an old and worn leather piece with pressed designs of vines and trees into it, and on his shoulders were much smaller and thinner version of the chief's tablets.

Hiccup watched her eyes trail over him and became increasingly embarrassed, shifting side to side and moving his belt around. "What? Do I look terrible? My dad made me wear these, but I—,"

"No, shut up, you look incredible," Astrid said with a huge smile, touching one of the tablets with the engravings of a face in the Norse-style. "I haven't seen you in such nice clothes before."

When she touched his shoulder with her fingers, Hiccup's eyes traveled down to her arm to where he saw the familiar blue dragon scale necklace, and he felt his heart physically jump. "Y-you're wearing it," he stuttered, blushing further. _She's actually wearing it, _he thought excitedly, grinning.

"Yeah. Does it look good?" Astrid asked and quickly struck a pose, hands on her hips and head held high.

"You look beautiful," Hiccup easily replied without hesitation, pleased to see her pink blush that matched the flowers on her head.

"Thank you," Astrid said, her own eyes sparkling. "You need a crown, too," she took one from a nearby crown-holder and reached up and placed it on his head. "There. Now your magnificent ensemble is complete."

"Wonderful," Hiccup smiled and took Astrid's hand and tucked it into his elbow to lead her to their table.

Elder Gothi gave a joint speech with the chief once nearly everyone had arrived, dragons forming a rim around the tables, kept at bay with their buffet of fish. She first talked about the changes to the village and how it benefited them for the greater good, adding a few dragon stories that made the village chuckle. Since it was the midsummer festival which its purpose implied new life, she mentioned recent marriages and births and told the same story every year about how flowers and water were the essence of life and happiness, and her speech ended with a chorus of applause. Stoick, clad in clothes similar to Hiccup's and as helmet-less as everyone else, spoke about coming marriages and great accomplishments, and topped it all off with a toast to the coming year.

Everyone dug into the food set out on the tables and the dusk air was filled with clanking metals and laughter as the lanterns were lit above their heads with the help of a horde of Terrors.

"This is the one day I'll proudly wear flowers," Snotlout said, causing a ripple of chuckles throughout the table.

"It's great to finally see your feminine side," Astrid said with a sly smile and making Snotlout puff out his chest more.

"It's the only one that shows," Tuffnut added and a few others chuckled.

Fishlegs joined in saying, "I haven't seen any other side," and now Snotlout was deflating.

"Hey—hey, you guys are wearing crowns too," Snotlout pointed out and shook a turkey leg at them.

"But we didn't point it out," Tuffnut clarified with a mouth full of potato.

"Because you have to wear the crown, stupid, or you'll scare everyone else away," Ruffnut said, taking a sip of wine from her wooden goblet.

"Haven't scared Snaggletooth away yet," Tuffnut said with suave, wiggling eyebrows and Ruffnut punched his arm for it.

"Speaking of girls—I'm gonna get drunk," Snotlout said, bringing his tankard to his mouth and downing it.

"That doesn't even make sense," Hiccup chuckled, taking a bite of pork.

"He means he actually wants to find a girl that'll like him when he's drunk," Fishlegs jokingly summed up, earning a tittering giggle from Ruffnut and a secretive smile. "Well, kind of, knowing Snotlout."

When he finished, Snotlout slammed the tankard down the table with a bang, shaking some plates. "Woo! One more and I'm ready to mingle."

"Mingle! This idiot uses 'mingle'," Tuffnut shook his head with a laugh. "Dude. Good luck 'mingling'."

"I'm out of vocabulary. Leave me alone," Snotlout took a bite from a chicken leg.

"'Mingle'? I haven't heard anyone use mingle in a serious sense," Ruffnut said.

"Shut up!" Snotlout flared with a mouthful of food and Astrid punched his side. "Ow!"

"You can't be a baby to go mingle with some girls. You have to wear your flowers proudly, remember?" Astrid replied with a smirk.

Snotlout looked determined. "Damn right," Tuffnut joined him in laughing.

Once the village had finished their supper, bus boys and barmaids started cleaning up the tables while people flocked around the bar and chatted. A wife-carrying contest started up outside the border of flowers and lanterns and many husbands took their wives' hands and dragged them over to prove their stamina, Brandan and Auda included. Astrid brought Hiccup over to watch from the sidelines while twenty or so couples lined up at one end of a huge stretch. A flag was raised and the husbands crouched to let their wives hop up on their backs and once the flag was dropped, the men started charging toward the other end. Cheers and shouts filled the crowd to the background of music, and both Hiccup and Astrid rooted for Brandan and Auda to win. Unfortunately, Brandan tripped over something and got a good mouthful of dirt while Auda rolled off him laughing delightfully as he pulled grass out of his teeth. The couple who won were people Astrid or Hiccup didn't know, but they clapped for them anyway.

Casually, the two young Vikings walked around the premise with their elbows hooked, and Astrid purposefully picked up two tankards of ale for them to sip on while doing so. Coming upon the mock-marriages being playfully conducted by Elder Gothi, Astrid watched a little cousin of hers getting married.

"He doesn't know what he's in for," Astrid said with a laugh, shaking her head and taking a sip.

"How would you know?" Hiccup asked with furrowed brows and an airy chuckle, holding his tankard in front of him.

Astrid shrugged. "I'm a girlfriend, so I have a feeling of what it's like," she grinned up at him when he nudged her shoulder playfully.

Hiccup sighed, watching her cousin be showered with pink and purple flower petals as he and his bride walked down the aisle. "Kids," he said simply, sounding unsure.

"Why don't you like kids?" Astrid asked, remembering the time on Oddr's rock, watching another couple walk up with laughing smiles on their faces, a bit older than her six-year-old cousin and herself.

"It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't know what to do or how to act around them. I mean, I get along with Dagger because he's mature for his age and I have to because he's my apprentice. I'm supposed to teach him, not get on his good side. I mean… I'm not much for fantasy talk."

"Me neither," Astrid scoffed. "It's not hard at all. Just be nice."

"Are you nice?" Hiccup joked, earning a slap to the shoulder. "Kidding, dear."

Astrid looked back to the marriage being conducted and watched the couple be blessed by Gothi and turn and walk away down the petal-scatted aisle. "I like kids. At least until they start bawling or acting like little shits, then I would rather toss them twenty feet than deal with them."

"Of course," Hiccup stuck out his lower lip pretending to actually contemplate her statement. Astrid rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something else until she felt a tug on her skirt. Looking down was a short chubby boy with bright blonde hair and enchanting green eyes with red round cheeks. Though she wouldn't admit it even to Hiccup, she melted at the sight of him.

"Will you marry me?" the little boy asked. "I need a wife."

"Woah! Wish I was that good," Hiccup laughed with Astrid as she knelt in front of him.

"I would love to marry you," Astrid smiled. "But Hiccup needs a wife, too, and he's not as good with girls as you are," she nodded like it was a serious matter, the boy giggling. "So why don't you go and find him a pretty wife and I'll marry you," Without a word, the boy turned around with a big grin and ran away with exaggerated swinging arms like a typical child's run. Astrid stood and laughed, watching him go. "See? Not that bad."

"I never thought you'd be good with children," Hiccup said, taking a sip from his tankard and letting his smile vanish for a second before returning.

She shrugged again. "I grew up with taking care of my cousins. Of course way back then I would hit them to get them to shut up, but not with other people's children that I was asked to take care of. Of course, sometimes…," she trailed off and Hiccup laughed after gulping. "Shut up. It's only been recent."

"Yes, girlfriend," Hiccup unabashedly used his free hand to rub her back affectionately. "Now, where's my wife?" he pretended to look around, making Astrid throw her head back in laughter.

A few minutes later, the boy from before brought what looked to be his sister, if a little older. Astrid and Hiccup set down their tankards in the grass and Astrid held out her hand and the boy took it. Hiccup's 'wife' eagerly took his, grinning up at him through blonde curls, and he had to admit she was adorable. Astrid and the boy married first, repeating the short and sweet vows Elder Gothi asked them to repeat. Astrid had to crouch while holding his chubby fingers and quickly, Elder Gothi gave her blessing and they were showered in petals. Hiccup and the girl were next, Hiccup in the same crouching position as he repeated the vows after his 'wife'. Petals were thrown in the air and Astrid and her little husband clapped along with a few others watching.

After walking down the makeshift aisle, Hiccup knelt again and gingerly kissed the girls' knuckles, saying, "Now, sweet wife, run along and a melt other boys' hearts," she smiled and ran off with her brother, mixing in between other Viking's legs. Hiccup stood next to Astrid smiling, looking accomplished. "Married life is fantastic," he winked and took Astrid's arm as she laughed.

"I think I'm buzzed enough to go dance, don't you think so too, boyfriend?" Astrid asked, a few lovely pinkish petals caught in her hair Hiccup didn't have the heart to brush out. She looked like the essence of summer in her white and pure dress and crown of flowers; she absolutely took his breath away.

"I think so, too, girlfriend," and he led her to the dance floor lined with orange-glowing lanterns and baskets of hanging flowers.

It was easy for the two to jump in and mesh in with the vibrant and forever-moving crowd of dancers, all in sync with the beat and flow of the music; singers sang songs about summer time and love and the changing of seasons, all old and famous with flutes and fiddles and drums—it was easy to get swept up in the music. Laughing and grinning, Hiccup would twirl Astrid around and her skirt would billow around her bare legs and her hair would fan out behind her back as she spun around him. He would lift her up at the same time as the other men dancers and set her down in another place and the dance would continue. Another faster-paced song would start up and they would all join elbows and twirl in couplets, switching partners and jumping, extending elegant arms, joining hands and skipping around the dance floor. Somehow Tuffnut and Snotlout started up a line where they got most of the dance floor to hold hands and skip around through the crowds around the bar, leading them through the premise, both quite drunk but somehow functional. Astrid spotted Ruffnut and Fishlegs in the line and later on the dance floor with a look that said 'I didn't know you liked to dance, but isn't it fun?'

Hiccup pulled Astrid out of the crowd just as another song picked up, pulling her behind him by the hand to the bar. He called for two mugs of mead after squeezing through some shoulders, and once he pulled himself out, Astrid gave him a most delighted but confused expression.

"I want to drink. I'm having too much fun," he said quickly and rapidly, his breath coming in short and quick spurts. His face red from the heat and his crown a little off-kilter, Astrid had the urge to kiss him.

"I'm with you on that one," she said over a laugh. When the barmaid held up two mugs of mead, Hiccup almost jumped for them so they wouldn't be taken. He handed one to Astrid, and clanking them together in cheers, they both threw their heads back and gulped to their heart's content. Looking over the rim of her mug, Astrid nudged him in challenge as she chugged. Hiccup raised his brows and pushed her back and continued drinking himself. Astrid pushed him back, making a few droplets spill onto his shirt. They chugged against each other until Hiccup raised his tankard above his head in victory, shouting a loud, "YES!"

Astrid took her last gulp and immediately punched him in the chest, wiping her mouth with a modest smile. "I beat you!" Hiccup cheered, rubbing his pectoral. "I actually beat you!"

"Don't rub it in. We have to find Tuffnut because I can beat him in two seconds," Astrid looked around, trying to ignore Hiccup punching the air.

"So yer lookin' for the World's Most Dead-… Deadliest Weapon?" said the boy in question, waltzing up to her from around a gargantuan body with at least ten flower crowns on his body; on his head, around his neck, two connected together around his waist, and on his wrists and upper arms.

"We're going to do a chugging contest," Astrid said simply while Hiccup called for two more meads and one for himself. She chuckled at his decorated body.

"Oh, I can beat you _eazy_," Tuffnut scoffed and blew air through his lips. "Didja know my sister kissed Fish in frun'a me?" Tuffnut leaned in close to say, and the mixtures of all the different alcohols on his breath were evident.

"That's gross," Astrid furrowed her brows and played along, giving him a sarcastic thumbs-up that he took her serious for.

"I know! I mean, whoduz that? Ugh!" Tuffnut took the mug Hiccup handed him and surprisingly held it steady despite the haziness in his eyes.

"Alright… go!" Hiccup threw down a too-fast hand and Astrid and Tuffnut began their contest in the crowds.

As she neared the bottom of her mug, Astrid arched backward to better take it down. Tuffnut spilled some of what was in his mug on himself, but finished after Astrid raised her mug in victory. "You alwayz beat me, don'tcha?" Tuffnut asked in a funny tone, grinning. He tossed his mug behind him, uncaring to who the mug hit in the head.

"Sure do," Astrid tossed the mug somewhere as well, but kept it low so it wouldn't hit someone.

"You're great… at errything," Tuffnut snaked a sudden arm around her like he did at Auda's wedding and kissed her temple. "Hey, you guise tell me if you see Snotface, awright? I needa beat his dumb ass for cheering on Ruff and Fish," Tuffnut looks at Hiccup expectantly before letting go of Astrid and stumbling off.

"Oh, Gods," Astrid grimaced, wiping the side of her head while Hiccup laughed incredulously, taking gulps of his mead. "He always flirts with me when he's drunk. I have no idea why," Astrid said, trying to refocus her eyes. The alcohol was hitting her quick.

"Then no more drinking contests with Tuffnut," Hiccup laughed and took one last huge gulp before handing the mug to someone, taking her arm again and pulling her out of the crowd.

They came upon the dance floor just as another song started being—The Slow Dance. "It's time, Hiccup," Astrid said with a wide grin, quickly making him change directions and stumble after her.

"Ohh. Are you ready?" Hiccup said as she weaved around a couple of people to reach somewhere near the middle, a few villagers coming to dance and a few leaving. Astrid stopped at a space in between a few wives and husbands and held out her arms for Hiccup to take his place and complete the other half of the pose. He took her hand and rested his hand on her back as the flute played out a long, solemn tune, the fiddle and lute gently playing along to make a beautiful piece.

Hiccup and Astrid stepped together slowly with everyone else in their own direction, the slight chaos organized and wordless. Hiccup, in his hazy mind, could not take his lopsided smirk off his face with Astrid looking so pretty, her hair wild and fanning out over her bare shoulders, her flower crown starting to wilt but it looked absolutely perfect as she glowed in the orange-tinged light flickering above them. He was drunk, or quickly becoming so, but _Gods_, Astrid. Her hand was warm in his, delicate but strong as her grip told him so, and she smiled up at him as he swam in the blue of her eyes. He was so painfully and painlessly in love with her, so goddamned much he almost didn't understand it. It could be his drunken thoughts spinning out of control, but Hiccup honestly felt as if he could marry her, and this dance was only making it more real. Brides wear flower crowns (and sometimes the groom when he swallowed his pride), and because of the 'new life' theme of the festival, he felt as if he was in some sort of wedding dance.

Gently spinning her around while her skirt danced around his legs, Hiccup let his imagination wander without hinders. In increasing inebriation, Hiccup imagined Astrid with red ribbons in her hair and a long white dress that dragged along the floor, simple and loose to mimic a sleeping shift, with her cheeks slightly pink because she was blushing. She would rest her left hand on his shoulder and he would glance at the silver marriage band around her finger that he made with his own matching ring, and he would smile and be the happiest man Berk had ever seen. He would smile at her every morning and every night and many times in between and he wouldn't be afraid to say 'I love you' because she was his wife and he her husband. They would have beautiful blonde and freckled children—many of them—and he would never forget she hated ludefisk and would always make sure strawberries were in full stock during the summer because the liked them. He would make sure she always had something to sew, or even if she didn't want to do that, push her out the door to throw her axe as he watched the potential children for awhile. He would be a good husband because he loved her and they would be happy.

Hiccup tilted head down and whispered with closed eyes still imagining," I want to marry you, Astrid Hofferson," he kept his cheek to hers for a few seconds longer, and when he pulled away, he saw her eyes sparkling like the ocean and her face redder than a tomato. He huffed out a laugh when she didn't reach or reply immediately.

"Don't say that," Astrid said under her breath, trying to keep her lips together so she wouldn't grin like a mad, drunk fool.

"Why not?" Hiccup said quietly, his sweet breath tickling her forehead. She swore her heart had left her entirely, soared away from her chest to become one of the stars above them. She started to stumble on her feet from a mix of drink and bewilderment, so she took the initiative to stand on Hiccup's foot and prosthetic again.

"Because," she laughed. "I could do very bad things to you," she whispered closely in a shy voice.

"Well," Hiccup raised his eyes brows and chuckled. "Like what?" he said in a mock-suggestive tone and Astrid swatted his shoulder.

"Forbidden things. Things that could get us in trouble with my father. Things unmarried people can't do. Just things," she smiled as if she knew something he didn't, and he narrowed his eyes at her for a second in a mini-stare-off. Astrid burst out laughing but muffled her voice into his chest as Hiccup shifted and spun around, shaking his head.

"Somebody's a little drunk," he said in a teasing sing-song voice, rubbing her back.

"No, I'm _not_," she said into his tunic, now more or less hugging him around his waist. She started laughing again when Hiccup snorted. "Maybe a little."

"More than 'maybe a little', you goof. If I'm drunk, you're way drunk," Hiccup said into her hair, now sort of hugging her as well to keep her from slumping against him.

The song ended and Hiccup pulled Astrid out from the dance floor, bringing her to a clearer space. She giggled and crashed into him and kissed his neck not-too-discretely, but Hiccup had a enough sense left to remember her rule of 'no public affections' and he reminded her of it so she kept a casual distance though she would reach for his hand every once and awhile. They downed a goblet of wine and chatted to a few people, trying their hardest to act sober, before the older people or less-crazy parents started carrying their children home because the night was growing later and later and the drinking heavier. The premise grew smaller as villagers left, the dance floor merging with the bar area and the musicians moving closer so volunteers could start cleaning up.

Astrid and Hiccup met up with their group again, Snaggletooth included at Tuffnut's side, and each and every one of them were drunk almost out of their minds. Astrid stumbled to sit down on the bench while Hiccup stood for a minute to figure out how to sit down until Astrid took his hand impatiently and yanked him to the table. Astrid clearly didn't know her own strength when she was drunk, and Hiccup being more uncoordinated that usual, ended up smashing his face right into the table. Snotlout immediately burst out laughing in his loudest yet, and it took Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Snaggletooth a second to realize what happened as Hiccup held his nose and yelled. Hiccup put a hand on the bench to steady himself but his hand slipped off so he fell into the grass, making Astrid and Snotlout on the bench jump as it had shifted. After apologizing through rapid giggles, Astrid threw her head back and laughed at Hiccup's obvious clumsiness.

"Oh—oh my Gods… ohoh," Tuffnut said through his laughing, tears in his eyes.

"Ya might've broke his face," Ruffnut said with lazy eyes, swaying purposefully into Fishlegs' arm and knocking into her brother next to her.

"He broke his own face after that," Snaggletooth added and everyone chimed in laughing after that.

Hiccup clambered onto the bench next to Astrid (a bit closely) and Snotlout and took his hand off his face with a big lazy grin. "Do I 'ave any blood on my face?" He asked to no one in particular, looking at anyone for an answer.

"Naw, man."

"You're clean."

"Golden."

"Awesome," Hiccup said just above a whisper and his eyes half-lidded, raising two thumbs up.

"You know, Hiccup, man, you're pretty cool, even wif that dopey stunt," Tuffnut said with an approving nod.

"Thanks,_ man_," Hiccup replied and fist-bumped Tuffnut's knuckles when he held them out.

"To finally bein' cool," Snaggletooth held up her tankard of ale and everyone but Hiccup and Astrid did the same, all clanking them together. Since they didn't have tankards or mugs or goblets to cheer with, both pretended they had one with sly glances to each other and laughing like they had some stupid inside joke, holding imaginary handles and clanking them around to tap each tankard with the appropriate sound, throwing their heads back and pretending to drink with over-exaggerated gulps.

Everyone went in a circle for loudest burp, and not surprisingly, Tuffnut won. "Yes! I win this time!" he raised his arms in victory while simultaneously smacking his sister in the face with his elbow. Ruffnut promptly punched him in the side and he ended up hitting Snaggletooth on her temple, so she punched him too.

"One-two punch!" Snotlout punched the air a few times and took some more drinks form his tankard until he finished it, tossing the entire thing behind him. "Who's ready for another round?"

"Me!"

"Me too!"

"Three!"

"Six!"

"Who said six?" Hiccup asked, making a few of them laugh.

"I heard three so I said a number and it happened to be six," Fishlegs said. "six as in, like, six legs on a Razorfoot dra—,"

"No! No facts! I'm so done with facts," Tuffnut shouted and hit the table. "Fur sayin' six, ya gotta go and get the drinks."

Fishlegs tilted his head back and groaned. "Naaaaooooo, I don't want toooo."

"Go, chub-chub!" Snotlout shouted over the table, gripping the edges with a maniacal grin.

"Fine, caterpillar-brows! You havta go next, though!" Fishlegs shouted back with a grin, making the bench almost topple over with Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snaggletooth all on it when he stood up.

"I don't think we'll be up for another round," Astrid said near Hiccup's ear and he chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm gonna dance, guise. I jus' love dis miyuusic," Ruffnut said suddenly, climbing on the table, incredibly shakily on the sturdy table, and started doing weird things. Everyone laughed at her extremely uncoordinated hip swiveling and foot stomping and arm movements rather than cheering her on like some of the other people still drinking and dancing were doing. Ruffnut hardly even noticed her friends falling off the benches below her, she just fell into her zone and danced, not even to the beat or rhythm of the music anymore, just what she felt like doing. Then her tight, knee-length tunic felt incredibly restrictive to the moves she wanted to pull off, so she started pulling up the hem of her tunic to strip it off.

"No! She's taking her clothes off!" Snotlout shouted through bewildered laughs. It was only Tuffnut and Fishlegs, who just happened to be back at the right time, who jumped to pull Ruffnut off the table because everyone else was, quiet literally, rolling around laughing.

"You idiot! Nobody wants to see that! Ewww! Yuck!" Tuffnut made disgusted noises as he pulled down Ruffnut's tunic as she giggled hysterically in Fishlegs' lap. She gave a sly glance to Fishlegs and Tuffnut saw, his glazed eyes widening. "Fishlegs?"

"What? I didn't do anything!" Fishlegs held his hands up, looking all worried as if he committed a treasonous act.

"My sister? C'mon, man!"

As Tuffnut and Fishlegs shouted about this and something else, Hiccup and Astrid were lost in their own giggling world, floating on clouds of bubbles in their drunken stupor. Snotlout said something to them from where he was actually sitting on the bench, both of them laying on the ground because they had fallen off, half on the bench still, but they couldn't hear him and instead made fun of his caterpillar eyebrows. After what felt like five minutes but was actually about fifteen, the group started getting up to leave somewhere.

Hiccup, discombobulated, and trying to piece things together, laid on the grass until Astrid situated herself off the bench and sat on his knees. "Where are they going?" he asked, his longish hair tossed from his forehead and looking rather messy and his cheeks were flushed, looking clearly drunk.

Astrid grinned excitedly at him because she knew what was going on, her crown completely gone from her head but petals still fell from the mess that was her hair. She took his hand and it sent static whizzing through him, and she said in an eager voice, "We're going on an adventure."

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Adventure Time! ;)

Sankthansaften means the summer solstice festival, if you didn't quite pick up on it.

I did research about what activities Scandinavians did during the summer solstice festival, and the only ones I could really find were Swedish traditions. Vikings were pretty much considered to be from all of Scandinavia, Sweden and Finland included, so I just used the more-Swedish tradition of the wife-carrying contest for something to write about. Mock marriages were included in, like, all of them so I did that of course. Uhm. Yeah. I don't know what else to say, lolol.

Thank you for being patient! I really appreciate it! :D


	15. Chapter 14

Holy balls. That's all I gotta say; holy balls.

I cranked this out! Typed it up in 5 hours! YEEAH! (It takes me a long time to type because I suck. And I haven't typed for a long time in forever. Like right now after having done all of this, I'm a pro).

In any case, here's the next update. Be prepared. Buckle your seat belts. And read the end notes, pleeease :) I love you all for still reviewing after the last update! I was still getting review messages in my inbox 2 weeks ago, and I hadn't updated in like a month or longer. I love you all sooo much. You're all kind and wonderful people and awww.

NOTE: I will still refer to Astrid's dragon as Spike though it has been revealed in Gift of the Nightfury (which is fantastically awesome and made me almost pee my pants) to be Stormfly, Camicazi's dragon name in the books, which I think is kinda bogus because Spike fits the Nadder better than Stormfly (humph). So don't be miffed that I still choose to keep it Spike so it doesn't change in the midst of the story.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter 14

00

_This is extremely uncomfortable_, Astrid thought followed by a groan, squeezing her eyes shut further against the harsh sunlight rudely assaulting her. Oh, gods, this was terrible. It felt like someone decided to be a fat jerk and drop a giant rock on her head—and, oh, this ache in her throat! Did she inhale sand? _Odin's eye! And…what the…? _Opening her eyes into slits, she saw a blurry shirt texture and green grass. Raising her head felt like lifting a child, and looking around further she saw Hiccup's unfortunate face. It looked like he was only waking up, too.

"I'm still _drunk_," Hiccup groaned in a raspy voice and raised his arm to cover his eyes. Astrid started chuckling but quickly stopped when it felt like said-child was beating a rattle on her head every inhale she took. Astrid rolled off him and sat up straight with much more effort than was needed, and once her eyes adjusted, she could pick out Snotlout rolling over a couple feet away, Fishlegs and Ruffnut yelling some things behind a few trees, and Tuffnut groaning to Snaggletooth.

"What the Hel… happened, man?" Snotlout grumbled as he sat up, rubbing his temples with quite the mop of messy black hair.

"I don't even know, dude," Tuffnut answered a few yards away from him.

"I don't know what's going on or where I'm at!" Ruffnut shouted but Fishlegs quickly and nearly begged for her to be quieter.

"Where _are_ we?" Astrid asked in a quiet voice, completely unaware that her hair was in a huge tangled ball of fluff with grass and most likely twigs stuck inside of it.

"Uh," Hiccup grumbled, shielding his eyes from the bright mid-morning sun with his hand, surveying the towering firs and other trees around them. "I think we're at the swimming hole."

"I definitely hear the waterfall," Fishlegs said as he stumbled around a tree holding his head, a few dark bruises visible on his neck.

"Get some, Fish?" Snotlout said with a lazy smile as his bigger friend joined the circle next to him. Fishlegs blushed and shrugged with a hint of a grin through the haziness.

"Okay, so we gotta piece this together, guys. I need help because I'm still kinda-sorta drunk," Ruffnut said, the only one standing up between the seven of them. She eventually sat down and together they tried fabricating the story of Last Night until now as a few other young and still-tipsy villagers left the waterhole to get back to their lives or their beds.

As it turned out, hardly any of them could remember much after leaving the site of the festival. Hiccup said Astrid told him they were going on an adventure and he remembered them running through the forest. Inspecting bodily parts, this piece was confirmed true as feet were dirtier than the dirt itself and cut up, arms had a few cuts and sores and Snotlout even had a small gash along his jaw. Tuffnut remembered dragon tipping a few snoozing Gronkles in the stables and said Snotlout did a knock-knock ditch on the Sveinson's house. Astrid said she remembered Hiccup pulling out some random dragon nip out of his pocket to calm a Gronkle from chasing them after a few yards, and Hiccup attested to this being true because he always carried nip with him all the time. Then, the storyline quickly went to nothing.

"I can't remember anything else," Snotlout shrugged and everyone agreed. "But I remember it being fun as Hel," then everyone agreed again.

"But I think I threw up," Ruffnut said through deep chuckles.

"Yeah, because I remember having to hold your hair up," Astrid said.

"In any case, though, probably the best sankthansaften ever experienced," Hiccup said with a few nods and a happy and rather lopsided smile.

"Even though no one remembers," Fishlegs added.

"Which makes it even more awesome," Tuffnut said and every one of them chuckled in agreement through their hangovers, letting the summer heat soak through their skin and warm their sloshy bones.

Summertime could never be more free or reckless, and Hiccup, quite frankly, could not be happier. He was as young as he would ever be, and with this somewhat-tipsy realization, he laid back and raised his palms to the sky as everyone continued laughing in delight around him. In his hands he could feel the sunshine, warmer than he could remember, and he suddenly felt at peace. For a short, fleeting moment, he let the sunshine mingle in with the contentedness and he let the pair settle comfortably in his memory so when he was old, he would remember this moment and know how it felt like to be young and in love and reckless and a hundred other things. He _knew _he would remember this, and knew it would be different from now onwards, but he felt okay with that. It would be the one thing he wouldn't forget.

Astrid ended up going with Hiccup back to his house because she didn't want to go home quite yet, and just as soon as the door closed and they entered into the cool house, Astrid leaped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him as fiercely as she never had before. Hiccup was quite shocked but kissed her hard and bit her lip just the same, pushing her back against the door. She would breathe into his ear and press her body against his, running her hands down his side and through his messy hair with small leaves still stuck in it until both of them ran out of breath. Together they raided the cabinets for food and took some headache remedies from the healer.

Hiccup changed out of his nice festival clothes while Astrid ran her fingers along the spines of the books on his shelf, the titles choppy in her head. Hiccup lent her one of his smaller tunics so she wouldn't have to wear her nice dress all day because she was "definitely _not_ going home to clean", as Astrid said in her own words. Though it was one of the smallest ones he owned, it was still loose on Astrid, and the neck was big enough where it would move off her shoulder a little and would look _so_ unintentionally arousing that Hiccup couldn't resist to take her mouth again. In doing so he almost knocked her off her feet, quite literally since her feet got tangled in the clothes on his bedroom floor.

"Oh, shhh-, sorry," Hiccup chuckled, grasping onto her upper arms in surprise to prevent her from falling, his face going a little red.

"Don't be," Astrid grinned and pulled herself to him by taking a handful of his tunic and kissing him again.

Hiccup brought Astrid to the forge much later than he would have if Dagger was going to be there, and without a word once they arrived, Astrid started getting the fire ready.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked through a bewildered chuckle, blinking stupidly in surprise. He picked up his leather apron from the hook as Astrid blew in the fire to heat the coals up.

"Getting the fire lit," she simply responded.

"I see that."

"I'm just helping you out," she replied as she stood up, a gentle smile on her face.

"Well, don't get in the way because you always do," Hiccup said in a joking voice, but just the same, Astrid punched his shoulder hard enough where he had to regain his footing.

As Hiccup heated some mangled swords and spears on the coals, pumping the bellows, Astrid straightened up the counters and organized everything, making sure similar tools were in the same box and nails in another (but she found nails and such all over the forge). She even organized everything under the counters, most of it that hadn't been touched in ten years so a few mouse villages had sprung up with accompanying bite holes and droppings. She cleaned the boxes out and organized what was in them, Hiccup often times rambling about something she didn't understand but went along with it anyway. A few hours past and Astrid got most of the workshop organized and clean and all the counters wiped down with the packed dirt floor swept, and when she started heading to the back room, Hiccup nearly lunged at her from where he was standing at the anvil.

"Oh, no you don't, young lady," Hiccup pushed himself in front of her so he blocked the doorway, holding his arms out and hands on the doorframe. Astrid put her hands defiantly on her hips and stuck out her round chin, squinting at him as if to say 'are you challenging me?' "Private business back there," Hiccup said with a convincing tone but Astrid only snorted. She had a grand, clever reply up her sleeve.

"I've _seen_ your 'private business', Haddock. You got _nothing_ to hide," she smirked, pleased to see his slightly red face go redder. After a short pause, Hiccup burst out laughing. Then, without notice, Hiccup crouched and dug his shoulder into her stomach so he could throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "HEY!—,"

"Somebody's a pervert!" Hiccup laughed as Astrid slammed her hands into his back.

"Let me down! This is assault! You're a terrible boyfriend!" Astrid said mostly in a joking and high-pitched voice, but through it she still giggled though she hated being manhandled. However, it was an odd turn-on that he would throw her over his shoulder so easily—she wasn't as light as a feather liked she looked while fighting.

"Oh, shut up and mind your own business," Hiccup replied with a smile and bent forward so he could set her on the newly cleaned counter. "You're a wonderful maid, milady," Hiccup said in a low voice, his eyes on fire, his hands suddenly free of his elbow length gloves and he pulled her legs around him by his hands on the underside of her knees.

"I'm not your maid," Astrid said in a mock-childish voice before Hiccup took her mouth hungrily. They were caught in a tangle of ravaging kisses and half-taken breaths stolen from another as they fought in tongues and lips like they hadn't seen each other in a hundred years. Tiny little moans from the depths of Astrid's throat surfaced when Hiccup's fingers teasingly grazed her underwear beneath his tunic that she wore and he wanted to take off. He pulled the neckline of the tunic down and saw small purple hickeys from the night before just where her breasts began and possibly a few others from other times, and brought his mouth to her warm skin to add a few more. Many weeks previous, they had decided that giving hickeys on necks was not a good idea for their reputations, so the chosen spot was pretty much anywhere beneath the collarbone after discussing about it. Hiccup thought it was a cool idea to give hickeys for some odd reason, but Astrid didn't care much for them. In any case, Astrid sighed into his ear when he lifted his head and nibbled his lobe just for fun, arching her back furthermore into him.

Astrid opened her eyes and looked around, noticing all the open windows and was surprised nobody could see them since they were along the side of the forge, but if one just walked right by they could see right in and see them. She liked the danger of it, but she still had a good head on her shoulders so she pulled his head away from her shoulder and kissed him briefly.

"Backroom—seems like a safe—bet," she said in between Hiccup impatiently kissing her in smacking noises that were a dead giveaway if anyone did walk by.

"Too cramped. Trust me," Hiccup said in a hoarse voice and it only made her moan when his chin scratched hers, stubble still prickly. _Goddamn _it, why did he have to be suddenly so hot right now? She bit his lip hard to give him further incentive to feel her up. She really didn't give a damn. But she did at the same time.

Just as his nimble fingers pushed aside her underwear, there was a knock at the windowsill. Astrid let out a quick shriek before she covered her mouth and Hiccup jumped away, spinning around to face the window like a horde of jötunn's were just outside. (8)

"Hello? Hiccup?" It wasn't Gobber or anyone else they knew; _thank Freyja_, Astrid seemed to say to Hiccup in her eyes and he visibly deflated just the same. It was Astrid first to start giggling madly, so Hiccup shooed her to the back of the forge so he could take the customer's order, though he faltered into a few laughs through the conversation.

Once the interrupting customer left, Astrid removed her hand from her mouth and leaned against a counter to hold herself up while she laughed hysterically. Hiccup let out his own bout of laughter and they continued just as so until their eyes got teary.

"Holy shit, I almost peed my pants. I thought somebody saw us!" Astrid said as she regained her breath.

"I know! I thought so, too!" Hiccup wiped his face with his hand, making some of his bangs screwed up from sweat. "Gods, if it was Gobber, I'd be super dead. I'm so glad one shutter was closed so he couldn't see us exactly."

Astrid let out a big sigh and threw her head back. "That was risky. If we had only gone to the backroom when I said…,"

"No! Off limits!" Hiccup laughed, and when walking by, he got a well-deserved slap to the behind. "Off limits!" he repeated, swatting her hand away. With a mischievous smirk to the corner of her mouth, she chased him around the forge with a spare glove to smack him with again until he pleaded with her to stop.

"No, no, no, no, stop, I have to get back to work, sweetheart, please, that hurts," Hiccup took her arms and kissed her a few times to entice her to listen to him.

"You're such a baby," Astrid dropped the glove and pushed her body flush against his, her eyes half-lidded.

"I know, you've told me this only all my life," Hiccup chuckled once before he couldn't resist her anymore and pulled her tighter against him, her long hair draping down her back that he entwined his fingers in. He kissed her passionately for nearly a minute before stepping away and laughing. "I hate not being able to resist you, Astrid," he said with a blush, pulling on his sooty gloves. She raised her head in a pompous manner, jokingly, and strutted back to the counter to sit.

Much later in the day when the sun started to set, Astrid went back to her house only to pack another basket of supper. She called Auda and Brandan's name when she found the house empty, her curiosity inspired from seeing the kitchen fire completely out like it hadn't been lit all day. While stuffing a loaf of yesterday's bread in the basket, she remembered Auda saying something about having supper at one of her friends' house. "It's Sif—I wouldn't doubt it," Astrid said to Spike while dropping off a basket of fish before kissing her goodbye on her nasal horn and picking up her basket of food to waltz back to the forge. She was in a fantastic mood.

Together they ate the perfectly seasoned chicken legs and potatoes mixed with cabbage and carrots and onions, leftover food from the festival that was distributed to the villagers early in the day. They sipped their wooden goblets filled with fresh milk and ale at the same low crate as before, in the same places. They didn't always hide their blushes or their secretive glances, sometimes their eyes locked for a moment before looking away, adding another opinion to the menial matters they discussed, such as Tuffnut and his relationship with Snaggletooth and whether or not it even was a relationship, or even how the upcoming weather might turn out. "It's supposed to rain within the next few days," Astrid said and Hiccup nodded over the rim of his cup and said after swallowing, "That would be a relief from this heat."

Astrid didn't bring a particular desert this time, but she did pull out a few sugared plums from Auda's secret tin, all six tiny pieces together in a white linen handkerchief. Astrid picked up a tiny morsel and tilted her head, popping the plum into her mouth with her eyes pointedly on Hiccup's. A small smile sprang to her lips as she chewed while the same recurring thoughts of what Auda said a few days ago about forelsket were pasted blatantly on the forefront of her mind. Hiccup watched her; enthralled he could see her sparse freckles in this dim orange light that strained his eyes more often than not. Quietly, he asked, "What are you thinking about?" he popped his second morsel into his mouth.

She didn't reply right away, and at length she said, "Pasts, presents and futures. All things."

"That job's reserved for Elder Gothi," Hiccup replied with a playful glint to his sparkling eyes.

"There can be two goðar," she smiled. (9) "No, I'm just thinking of what my sister said about forelsket a few days ago," A small part of her wished he didn't know what she was talking about, but he nodded knowingly and possibly blushed a little.

"I know what that means. I haven't heard that term since my mother mentioned it in a story she was reading once," Hiccup paused, holding his third and last sugared plum, thinking. "Man, that was a long time ago," he let out an airy, humorless laugh and ate his last piece.

Astrid smiled though she didn't find anything funny, swallowing her last bit. She leaned over and kissed him briefly. "You had a bit of sugar on your lips," she said a few inches away from him, her own bright eyes flitting across his darker ones.

Lips still puckered from her kiss, Hiccup replied, "Mmm, sugar lips," They both chuckled before kissing again, and just when Astrid started pulling away, Hiccup pushed his head a little to tell her just a bit longer. When he did allow her to sit back, only just so because she leaned on the crate with her elbows, Hiccup said, "Let's do something."

Astrid raised a provocative brow, questioning him. "Such as…?" 'Let's do something' could mean anything—for Odin's beard, with Hiccup it could mean 'let's clean the stables'. She could only claim to know half of his motives by the way his brain worked.

Hiccup smirked a little. "Fun things," _Oh, gods, that sounded perverted_, he thought, biting his lip. He had no idea what got into him. He just wanted to _do stuff _all of a sudden.

Astrid thought he looked rather enticing biting his lip the way he was even with his big and uneven teeth, and this served as more incentive for Astrid to jump to it. "Finish closing the forge, we're going to my house," Astrid immediately swiped the handkerchief from the table and shoved it into her basket on the ground next to her.

Hiccup couldn't argue against that. He stood up and started putting his tools away while Astrid shut the doors to the fire to make it die out, coming around to straighten up. They shut all the windows and Hiccup locked the door and off they went in a mad dash to Astrid's house. Just at her doorstep, she told him to wait across the street in the shadows just to see if Auda or Brandan were home and then she would either invite him inside or sneak him through her window. Hiccup did just that and waited for her for hardly a minute before she peeked her head around the front door to bring him inside.

"Quickly!" she said in a harsh whisper and Hiccup slipped inside with a wide grin on his face. Astrid took Hiccup's hand and lead him through the dark to the staircase and up into her room. She made him stand in the middle of her floor so she could light a few candles even though there was a half moon out this night, shining through her window across her made bed that went unused last night.

"Before anything happens," Astrid raised her hands before Hiccup would jump at her. "We need to take some preliminary precautions. I'm not sure when Auda and Brandan are going to be home, so we're going to pretend I'm just about to go to bed, okay?"

Hiccup faked a sullen look. "Okay."

Astrid still furrowed her brows but smiled. "I'm going to change into my chemise, and you, can sit," she pointed to the bed and he obediently did so, chuckling. While she changed into her chemise, Hiccup looked at a carved wooden figurine on her nightstand, and to him it looked like a valkyrie with long hair and a sword held high, the horse with six legs; two for the back and four in front. It looked like a woman though she was faceless save for some tiny features like eyes, a nose and a mouth, armored and looking more ready to charge into battle than to save the dead warriors souls coming from it to go into Valhalla. Astrid saw him looking at it just as she pulled her chemise over her head.

"My father gave it to me when I turned twelve, the year my mother let me inherit her axe," she nodded her head to where her axe leaned against the wall next to her dresser. "He carved it himself."

"He's very skilled," Hiccup said, turning the figurine right so the light would catch the polished wood nicely.

"My grandfather's a carpenter so he's worked with wood his whole life. He carves stuff all the time. My sister's have some stuff like that as well," Astrid said as she searched through her personal chest of sewing supplies. She pulled out a partially done handkerchief she didn't finish from forever ago and quickly threaded a needle with spring green string to look like vines around the hem. Taking her brush from her before her vanity, she stood between Hiccup's knees and he had to crane his neck to look up at her. "You're going to brush my hair while I sew. Got it?"

He smiled, his palm warm on the side of her exposed thigh. "You got it, milady."

"That's more like it," she winked terribly at him and they laugh as Astrid handed Hiccup her brush and sat cross-legged between his legs.

Surprisingly, Hiccup brushed her wild hair gently, starting from the ends and taking each snarled chunk carefully as he made his way to the crown of her head. She hardly felt bothered as she pulled the needle through the linen, and even his fingers were nimble and soothing on her scalp, and much of the time shivers cascaded down her back and arms like rain. He ran the brush all the way down her long hair many times, silent at his work. She smiled because she's suddenly quite relaxed after awhile and soon she finds herself nearly starting to doze off so she knows it's about time to be done.

Astrid leaned to her right to put the handkerchief and needle on her nightstand, standing up in front of Hiccup with a few pops in her back. "My butt is sore. I didn't it to stop," she said as she straddles Hiccup, moaning childishly.

"I like brushing hair for some reason. My mother would ask me to do it for her sometimes. Her hair was as long, if not longer, as yours," Hiccup replied, his arms snaking around her waist. Almost in a secretive motion, he ran his hands slowly over her backside, his expression hardly giving him away.

"You're quite good at it," Astrid said just before she digs her knees into the edge of the feather mattress and lifts his stubbly chin up to kiss her.

Hiccup kisses Astrid rather slow compared to the time in the forge when he just couldn't seem to get enough. Now, it reminded Astrid of the first couple of times they _actually_ started kissing instead of quick pecks, and she felt a bit uplifted remembering how much they've changed together. All that was before they started taking off clothes and, here they were, already having gone through that, though the only times they have been naked completely and simultaneously were during their waterhole excursions and streaking. Astrid smiled a little between kisses, running her hand through his hair to the back of his neck.

Hiccup wrapped his arms around her back for a brief couple of seconds to stand and lay her down on the bed perpendicular to it. She let out a little sound of surprise because she hadn't been holding onto him when he stood, but she had her back on her mattress before she knew it with his body weight against her. He was warm through two layers of shirts and she felt her heart race and her intakes of breath became airy when she felt the burning sensation between her legs. She grazed her fingers along his cheek, her mouth open from a suspended kiss, and Hiccup's the same with his nose just touching hers, his bangs soft on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, he grinned, his eyes sparking something between mischievous and sensuality, and Astrid remembered that look from the time after they went streaking. She wanted to see it again then and now she knew she should be excited. Super excited.

"Your turn," Hiccup says in a rough voice, smiling lopsidedly. He didn't allow her a reply or a question before taking her mouth fully and sliding against her body.

_Oh, okay. I can deal with that_, Astrid thought, letting him sink into her. She relaxed he body and focused on his, letting his warmth melt down to her bones, allowed the feel of his skin to send shivers to the far reaches of her toes and the tips of her fingers. She focused on his soft and dry lips on her neck, his rough and nimble hands pulling up her thigh and hip. She sighed, her closed eyes rolling to the back of her head.

_Forelsket_, Astrid thought in her head. _Forelsket_, that complicated, ancient word. She's tied it with Hiccup in the last couple of days, the one thing that keeps creeping to the forefront of her thoughts. _It's that exciting rush you feel… when falling in love… for the first time…, _Astrid thought, or at least tried to because Hiccup was now running his full palm up her chemise across her stomach and the ridges of her ribs as she arched her back. She couldn't think for shit, at least anything else other than Hiccup's exploring hand. Her thoughts were in frenzy, her heart mirroring it. He went so agonizingly slow, pushing up her chemise with his other hand as he shimmied downward to kiss her navel playfully once. He stretched his body along the length of hers, slowly, as he kissed back up in sync with raising her chemise. Oh, gods, he was going so _slowly_. This was almost painful for Astrid; she had very little patience and he was wearing it thin. Hiccup almost seemed to know this and do it on purpose when she opened her eyes and sent him a look he knew but chose to disregard. _Smartass. _She furrowed one brow slightly as if in challenge, he looked at her over the bunch of fabric from her chemise so she could only see half his face, looking down the length of her nose.

Still slowly, Hiccup pushed the dress up farther while holding eye contact with her, grazing his fingers over one breast. Astrid sucked in a tiny breath of air but didn't give him the satisfaction of a gasp quite yet, still eying him. He returned her gaze with much more intensity, mingled in with plenty of confidence as he craned his neck to take her nipple into his mouth. Now she gasped. Watching him do it was something totally different than simply feeling it. Of course focusing on him and only him without any visuals was certainly fantastic, but with candles and light, she thought she might as well make the best of it and watch him. _Why the Hel not? _She thought and bit her lip when he gave her pert nipple a tiny bite before kissing around where her breast rose up from her ribcage. Astrid pulled herself up to her elbows as Hiccup descended downwards, both hands going with him. Along her skin she could match his stubble with his face and his eye lashes and nose and lips with it, along with how his russet hair felt across her pale skin. It was so… _stimulating_. Her breathing even became deeper because of it.

"Is this a return thing fffffrom the other n-night?" Astrid said, her voice not wanting to relent to her wishes and moan instead, but she wouldn't let it happen. She fought it back while Hiccup pulled her underwear down with him.

He pulled them down her long and slim legs, and when he didn't come up to kiss her after that and going to kneel on the floor with the edge of the bed, she was surprised. "Mhm," Hiccup responded through a cocky smirk and looking at her through his eyelashes. He kissed her thigh slowly, his other hand stroking the skin of her hip and other leg, getting right into that crease that made it almost feel like he was tickling her. He chuckled when she jumped in surprise, his stubble hardly scratching her thigh because it was too long to hurt, needing a shave sometime tomorrow. As his head got lower to the meeting of her legs, she was certainly more than surprised. He was doing the same thing, but on her. How cool. Actually that was awesome. Really awesome.

"You're just spoiling me," Astrid said in a playful voice, feeling her blood pump harder through her veins. Hiccup didn't reply, only lowered his head in response and suddenly all things seemed to melt together.

Hiccup was taking this business seriously, that was clear. He used his tongue all along her clit but not in an obnoxious, licking-up-milk type of manner. Slow and hard and deep, flicking that ever-sensitive fold of flesh and gently sucking and curling his lips in a distinct manner that reminded her of eating a plum; he didn't want her to spill down his chin so he got every last drip. _Perfect. _Absolute perfection. She let out one giant, quiet, "Holy shit!" in her breath that ended with a strangled moan. She couldn't hold herself up anymore due to the reverberations of his mouth on her and she blamed this state of mess on him. She pushed her head back and arched, her hips rolling along the mattress. Hiccup held her down with his arms wrapped around her thighs, still doing his thing. Astrid found the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair, pulling gently at the clumps. She moaned deeply and loudly enough so that Hiccup had to quiet her down with a waddle of his pointer finger.

After a couple of minutes, she wasn't getting to where Hiccup knew she could get, so he unhooked one arm from her leg and used his fingers to add to her pleasure. Astrid's world was spinning entirely now as his fingers pumped and his mouth was doing something and his stubble another and her bed was so _comfy _and the lighting just right and—everything. How? Why? What is this? This can't be Hiccup. She was sweating and panting and moaning and this dork was doing it. He was so amazing it wasn't even possible. She wouldn't be surprised if she woke up and this was all a dream; she would be very pissed, but wouldn't bat an eyelash.

It wasn't long before she could feel herself start to go up that peak again, her breath didn't seem to register in her lungs so she breathed in more but sometimes couldn't, feeling a wave of that thing called ecstasy until another one came and another, and it almost became too much. She gripped the bed sheets above her head, arching her back until she felt some weird vibrations run all the way through her from her head to her toes and back up again multiple times. Lights popped behind her eyes. She knew she had to be quiet but it seemed she didn't know how, so she bit her knuckle and hoped she was quiet enough, but her loud and guttural moan seemed to not make much of a difference as she felt like she was splashed with water where Hiccup's head happened to be.

The lower half of Hiccup's face was drenched and he sat up from the neat, clean mess he created, dragging his arm across his face and wiping his hand on his pants. Her hair was all over the place, definitely snarled at the back of her head now after having spent a half hour brushing it, but he didn't really mind because she was lovely. He smiled down at her and chuckled when she was slow to give a smile back, her eyes half lidded. She was totally spent, completely exhausted now. Astrid sat and pulled her dress down and kissed him, tasting something different on his mouth. Interesting.

Hiccup removed his prosthetic and crawled underneath the bed sheets with her after blowing out all the candles around the room. He laid on his side along the length of her body behind her, his arm wrapped around her where she held his hand, stroking his knuckle with her thumb.

After some silence, Hiccup said, "Your hair always seems to smell like strawberries," his voice was tired as well, drawling, but he was somewhat awake still.

"I use strawberry soap. Smells good, doesn't it," she stated, snuggling into him.

"Mhm," Hiccup smiled. He always connected strawberries to Astrid.

"You always smell like pine trees," Astrid said after much thought. She was soo tired.

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Is that bad?"

"No, I like the smell of the forest. We're surrounded by it, that and the ocean, and you smell like both sometimes. It's like you're connected to this place, not just simply born here," Astrid said, the longest thing said in awhile.

"It's my home," Hiccup nearly whispers. "I missed it all the time when I was gone."

"Yeah, don't do that again," Astrid laughs lightly. "I did miss you a lot, though I _was_ mad at you still."

"I promise I won't leave," Hiccup smiled into her hair, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Astrid smiled too, kissing one of his knuckles. It was the last thing she remembered before falling asleep.

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Hiccup was gone before she woke up, presumably going through her window since it was wide open, letting in the bright late morning sun shine through. Astrid was woken up by Auda shaking her shoulder and telling her to go to Hallbera's before she gets her arm bitten off. Astrid groggily rolled out of bed and stretched, and opening her eyes, she saw her underwear on the floor that was hastily discarded last night. She laughed and covered her eyes with her hand. She was surprised Auda didn't say anything because they were lying quite out in the open.

Astrid spent the next two days at Hallbera's working on a new dress the color of deep red wine, and though it was a short time, she got exceptionally far for doing the same type of dress three times before. Ranka, Stinkeye and Hallbera still spoke about the festival and funny or scandalous things that happened in the adult-world, which was usually the case since people often went nutso at sankthansaften after seven or so months since the Jul festival in mid winter. She herself can definitely attest to that with not remembering a good chunk of what she did after leaving the lantern-bordered premise, and waking up with almost a necklace of hickeys. She now loved her long and thick hair.

The third day, Astrid was just about to walk out the door when Auda kept her inside so she could clean. "Mom and Arnheim are going to be here today or tomorrow, and if they're here today, mom'll be super pissed that we haven't done, like, anything," Auda explained, handing her a basket to go collect chicken eggs and a broom to sweep out the coop. Astrid grumbled things to the chickens, most of whom she had named when she was eight, as she did her job, shooing the hens off their perches and collecting the healthy eggs and saving a couple to hatch into chicks. She swept the coop out and brought in new hay from the barn, cleaned and filled the water trough and scattered chicken feed after sweeping the dried scat into a pan and tossing it into the grass a couple yards away.

Inside she swept every corner and shook out all the rugs and blankets and dusted every surface. Just as she and Auda were double-teaming the fireplace to clean out all the soot and ash, the front door opened and Ingrid walked inside with her traveling basket. The first thing Astrid noticed that was wrong were her mother's red eyes.

And then the sobs.

Confused, and being the first one up, Auda walked over to her mother and embraced her.

The next thing Astrid noticed was her father looking sullen. He took off his helmet and set it slowly on the hook he always hangs it on next to the doo, and in his motions, she could see a visible weight on him. Paired with her mother's extremely non-characteristic crying, Astrid's stomach twisted crudely.

"Oh, no," Astrid gasped, immediately standing up and rushing over to her parents.

Ingrid pulls away from Auda and wipes her eyes with her hands, gaining her composure briefly before speaking. "Girls…," she starts, swallowing hard. "You have a nephew named Snare now. He is perfectly healthy and is such a beautiful baby. But," at this, Auda gasps loudly and brings a hand to her mouth, tears already at her green eyes. Ingrid takes a deep, shaky breath when Arnheim puts a large and comforting hand on her back. "Aislin was in labor all during the day of the festival until m-midnight the next day. The birth didn't end well. She bled a lot. When the bleeding stopped, she fell into fever and… a-and died very early yesterday. We… w-w-we," Ingrid sighed and took in another unstable inhale before continuing. "She was put onto a p-pyre a-and…," she couldn't bring herself to finish and descended into howling sobs, but Astrid already understood. She didn't fully register the weight of it all until Ingrid pulled her tightly into her arms and, as if it was contagious, started bawling herself.

Her sister had died. Her own flesh and blood, dead. Gone from her forever, completely shattering her hopes of ever seeing her again and now she never would. The sadness flowed through Astrid like a floodgate had opened and there was no way for her to stop it. She didn't know what to do, so the only thing she did was cry. She didn't hide it, didn't bother to. In her mother's comforting embrace, she cried until her eyes hurt. Astrid even hugged her father and he hugged her back, more tightly than she could ever remember. He muttered words into her hair that she couldn't quite understand and could only respond with more tears.

Brandan came home early since the news had spread and he took Auda into their small and cramped room so he could hold her and cradle her. Astrid made her way to the stairs to go up to her room, but on the third step, she found the climb too unbearable as it led to Aislin's old room, most of her things still sitting on the same shelves. Instead, she sat on the stair and held her head in her hands, elbows on her knees and ushered forth a couplet of racking sobs. It felt as if there were blankets piling on top of her incessantly until the pile reached the ceiling. She felt crushed and in pain. Her eyes hurt, her throat hurt, her face hurt from holding the same agonizing expression.

She felt trapped with nowhere to go, so she left. She went behind houses and down forgotten alleyways until she came upon the forge. She didn't bother knocking or saying any type of warning, she just walked right in. Both Hiccup and Dagger's heads spun around to face her with her tearstained cheeks and screwed up hair. Before she hardly even had a chance to say a word, a dreadful feeling ate Hiccup whole and he knew it wasn't good. "Dagger," he said in hard, calming voice, catching the boy's attention effectively. "Go outside. If I don't call you back in after ten minutes you can go home." He knew it would be much longer than ten minutes, he knew that just by looking at Astrid.

Dagger didn't say a word of opposition since he saw her face too. He heard things of Astrid Hofferson from his older sisters and how fierce she was, and he grew up on those things so he was always somewhat wary of her. Dagger knew she was something of Hiccup's girlfriend but he didn't ask about it. Seeing Astrid with red eyes and tears down her face, he was a bit rattled and gladly left, brushing right past her as she went past him to where Hiccup was at the anvil. He threw off his gloves just in time for Astrid to crash into him, burying her face into his chest and letting out such a terrible sounding sob Hiccup felt like crying himself.

He brought her to his back room and sat on the chair, collecting her in his lap like she was his child, wrapping his arms tightly around her and rocking just so, saying incoherent nothings. He had absolutely no idea what happened but he assumed a death since he had never once in his life seen Astrid cry, ever, nor had he imagined it possible. She cried into him like the world itself was falling apart and there were no good things left at all.

It was a long while before Hiccup had a chance to say something legitimate, trying once or twice before because he thought she had fallen asleep, but just as he spoke she started crying again. He had never dealt with a crying person before, and quite frankly it made him a bit uncomfortable even with Astrid, but it pained him so much more to see her in such a state. He wanted to know what he could do to fix it because he almost couldn't stand it. He was supposed to fix things. Mend the broken. He didn't want to sit idly by and watching something crumble in front of him without being able to repair it.

Smoothing her hair from his forehead, Hiccup shushed her and he said, "Astrid, sweetheart," he spoke in a soft voice as she sniffed and wiped at her face. "Will you tell me what's wrong now?"

Without hesitation, she said in a choked and thick voice, "Aislin died. She ga-ave birth and died of fe-ever," she hiccuped a few times, tears squeezing through her eyes to roll in fat globs down her cheeks.

"Oh, gods," Hiccup gasped in total shock. He never expected it to be so close to home. "Oh, gods, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Astrid," he pulled her head to his throat, holding her tight again. "Ohh, I'm so… so sorry," he whispered this time, kissing the top of her head. He squeezed his eyes, willing the pain she was in to leave her. He prayed to all the gods he knew of, even to some foreign ones, to please ease her of this loss because he himself had been through it and would not wish such grief upon anyone, much less Astrid.

Astrid cried until she couldn't anymore, slumping in Hiccup's lap and against his shoulder. All she wanted to do was sleep and hope to never wake up at all, or if she did by some twist of fate, wish that Aislin was alive. She wished she didn't have to get married and move to Meathead Island, wished she send more letters to her, and wished in general that she had more time with her. Aislin was married to Kollr when Astrid was thirteen, in the midst of her confident and overtly headstrong years, and she didn't even hug her goodbye. She came once for Snoggletog for three days when Astrid was fifteen, but she didn't get a chance to say goodbye either.

Astrid wished she had done so many things, and voiced them all to Hiccup.

"There's no use in regretting now. If you keep holding onto these things, you won't get anywhere," Hiccup whispered softly, stroking her hair as an attempt at comfort. He thought for a moment, thinking he should take his own advice.

"I know," Astrid muttered in defeat. "but I can't help it. She was my sister and I treated her like shit when she lived here, and then she left and I hardly spoke to her at all. I only wrote one letter to her and didn't reply to her next one. I've always missed her but I never told her. Should I have?"

"I can't tell you that. I wouldn't know."

"Did you tell your mother you missed her when she came back from voyages?" This surprised Hiccup since they had never once mentioned his mother in conversation. He never brought up the topic and neither did she.

"She did travel a lot, but I also remember her being home for long periods of time. I was a child, so of course I told her I missed her. She was my mother," _was_, that terrible word. It made him cringe. "But that doesn't mean that you made a mistake, Astrid. You made none at all. You treated her like your sister. It wasn't like you expected this to happen."

"I still feel terrible about it, though," she said in such an airy voice Hiccup had to ask her to repeat it.

"It'll be okay. It won't be easy, but you'll be okay," he tried to reassure her.

"How can you be so sure I will be? Nothing is ever certain, Gothi would say," Astrid said, looking up at Hiccup with red and swollen eyes. He pushed her bangs out of her face and offered a small smile.

"Because I know you like the back of my hand; like this room. You're the strongest person I know. You could stand against the wrath of the gods and still be fine," he gently stoked her cheek with his thumb, speaking in soft words. Astrid smiled only a little and shut her eyes wearily, leaning back into him.

After a very long while, Hiccup takes Astrid home, night had fallen hours ago and the streets were only lit by the moon and a few lit windows. Hiccup made it a point to hold onto her hand while walking back. Astrid's house is lit up so she knows her family is still awake. She opens the door and is about to say goodbye to Hiccup before Ingrid pushes Astrid back outside and steps out onto the porch with them, closing the door quietly behind her back.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Astrid asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Before all things seem to turn dreadful, I have a bit of news to tell you both," though the grievance is clear on her aging face, she offers a small hint of a smile. Hiccup glances at Astrid for any clues, but she seems as confused as he does, and he really hopes that Ingrid doesn't bark at him about spoiling her precious daughter and being a stupid boy and equally embarrassing things about their trying-to-be-inconspicuous-but-it's-obvious relationship.

"After mourning week I'm going to talk to Stoick about compromising a marriage contract between you two. I've already—," Ingrid didn't even get a chance to finish before Astrid shrieked because Hiccup fell sideways into her.

"Are you sure, mom? Because he just about fainted!" Astrid yelled, pushing Hiccup off her so he could lean against the post. "You're so pathetic!" Astrid slaps his shoulder with thoroughly shaking hands.

"Don't yell at me," Hiccup retorts back with his own subtle bite. "Your mother just told us some vital news, Astrid. This is all too much for one night so I got a little lightheaded, alright? Geez, don't bite my head off," Hiccup is considerably less angry than she is, but with his strange way of settling her, puts her back into place.

Ingrid had stood quietly while the short scene played out, waiting patient for her daughter and future-fiancé to stop arguing. "Okay," she sighed, Hiccup safely leaning against the post and Astrid looking at her anxiously. "Well, I already talked to your father about it, and though he doesn't much like it, accepts the idea of it," Of 'it' she meant son-in-law. _What a weird thought_, Hiccup thought, fearing he might become lightheaded again. "Though traditionally he should be making arrangements, I'm doing it because your fathers are as much as children as any other and won't get along for anything. There isn't much to worry about. Stoick and I have been friends for a long time," Ingrid smiled gently at Hiccup. "It's just about deciding on the dowry and such. But that doesn't mean you two can go off doing stupid teenager stuff, okay?"

"Thank you, mom," Astrid says, looking genuinely happy though still sunken, her eyes watering.

Before he even knew it, Hiccup pulled Ingrid into a hug as if he were her son, and said, "Yes, thank you, Ingrid," she tensed in surprise at first but when he spoke he seemed to bring her to reality. She ran a motherly hand across his shoulders and smiled.

"If you take care of my daughter, you'll be on good terms with me, and that's all you need do," she whispered back so Astrid couldn't hear, stunned next to them.

Hiccup smiled and pulled away, still bewildered this was at all happening. "I promise," he said in return.

Astrid then hugs Hiccup in goodbye and he buries his face in her hair and squeezed her tightly before letting her go. "I'll see you soon if not tomorrow, okay?" she said almost sadly, her eyes big and watery as if it would be five years.

"Of course," he pursed his lips together and said goodnight to both of them before stepping off the porch.

He doesn't move. Not yet.

Aislin Eriksson (or as he knew her, Hofferson), is gone from the world, died in the early hours of yesterday. Bombarded with Astrid's tears and never-ending sobs that made him ache, he almost couldn't believe it. Then, suddenly he is struck in the face with news about his imminent engagement to Astrid Hofferson, his girlfriend of almost two weeks and childhood interest, and the one he is currently madly in love with. It's all totally surreal, he feels it's exactly like a dream. At first, a terrible and stupid dream (since dreams should be blissful) and then the best dream he could have. It was awfully bittersweet and didn't much appeal to Hiccup, but he could work with the taste.

He didn't know what to make of his situation. He was absolutely ecstatic about Ingrid's news, but he was also incredibly sympathetic for the Hofferson family. Though, he reasoned, now was a time for mourning instead of rejoicing because one cannot simply overlook the death of a family member compared to a possible engagement. Hiccup knew this, so instead of grinning and trotting home, he goes home and prays for the Hofferson family, hoping the gods would have mercy on Aislin. It was strange for him because he hadn't personally tried talking to the gods in years since his own mother's death. He buried himself in sketches and old designs until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

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(8) Pronounced YO-tun (same with all J's in any Norwegian-context, I think). Jötunn's are giants who reside in one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology called Jötunheim(r). Also known as fire, frost, rock and rime giants. Sometimes appear to be the foes of the main gods (Odin, Thor, Frey, etc.) but both Odin and Thor took up jötunn 'mistresses', lol.

(9) Plural form of goði or gothi. A type of priest/priestess in Norse paganism. Gothi is not a name. Elder Gothi is referred to as Gothi because she _is_ a gothi. If that makes sense. I'm sure gothi could be used as a name, but I would doubt it since goðar were highly regarded in the society, such as Elder Gothi picking Hiccup to kill the Nightmare in the movie. She had her staff and everything, so I think I could reasonably deduce she is technically a gothi but simply referred to as Gothi for lack of a name.

Anonymous reviews:

(To the person who sent me: _Updateeeeee! I wanna read the adventure! Great story btw, very romantic. A__ little more drama would be pretty cool too though. Maybe the other kids their__ age finding out more about their relationship? Can't wait to read more!_ Get a name you fool!) **Lol I'm jus****t kidding, you're not a fool, I just want to identify you! :) ****Did I provide enough drama for you in this chapter? hurhur. I'm glad you like it and thanks for reviewing! **

**Adam: Thank you very much! :D**

**Tekotchi: Thank you as well! I really appreciate the review! ;)**

Thank you for sticking with me, everyone! I really, really value it. Each one of your reviews makes me want to jump in my chair and continue writing to kick my lazy butt into gear! Keep going at it and I won't give up! :D

Oh, and did I surprise you guys enough, lolol. HELLO MARRIAGE!


	16. Chapter 15

Heyy, my dudes! I have returned with another installment of HOS! :D I'm very glad and relieved I have this one to update, with a few others as well. I decided I was going to update late on Thursday (1/19) instead of waiting for Friday because I feel like you guys deserve to be rewarded with all your kindness and patience. Really, I'm so appreciative. I was expecting people to hound me and constantly be like, "What the eff, lady, get your shit together and update!" (though I'm sure that's what most of you are thinking and thank you for not saying so, lol). So, I'm really happy :)

And go checkout this: http: / / halfnote . deviantart . com / # / d4ida8i (no spaces). I drew the Hofferson-O'Malley family for any people who wish to see how I see them because I haven't gone into too much detail about appearances. And, feel free to look at some other drawings too, hyukhyuk ;)

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Fifteen

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Astrid was more or less confined in her home for the next week and a half to mourn the death of her sister and to accept condolences from villagers to bring bakery goods, small trinkets or to simply reminisce about Aislin and her likeness to Ingrid despite her dark hair or her sword mastery. Astrid absolutely hated this time. Many crying women flooded her house, and when they were not there, the silence was unbearable. The grief and despair stained everything, made the whole house darker even when the windows were open, and Astrid hated being trapped by her mother-turned-gatekeeper. Heimdall could not beat this woman, Astrid swore on her life (10). Ingrid wouldn't let her go out to even take Spike for a ride, only to let her see her or to feed her once in the morning and once at night for breakfast and dinner. She wasn't even allowed to take a walk. "This is family time, Astrid. I know your escapist attitudes and your sneakiness so don't argue with me." The woman was right on that part, but still. Even her father was forced to stay home, but, surprisingly, he followed what his wife told him to do without much retort.

Astrid knew her father was only cooperating because he preferred Aislin over Auda because she didn't have such a rebellious nature like Auda or herself, and she actually listened to what people told her instead of going off to do something stupid. She was smarter than her two younger siblings in quite a few things and had a much more reserved nature that Arnheim seemed to like, so he taught her to read. He taught Astrid some, but because they butted heads a lot from their similar personalities he stopped after she was twelve. Auda never got such lessons, only when she watched or listened to them, and as far as Astrid knew, she could only write her name. Reading and writing weren't necessary and it took up too much time for their busy Viking lives. Arnheim had to work and fight when the dragons came and the three girls had to train to hold their own. Simple.

So, knowing this, Astrid assumed Arnheim wasn't complaining or nagging too much because it was Aislin they were mourning and not one of Astrid's aunts or even Auda. It made her a bit resentful to her father because of his exclusivity. Auda was pregnant too; the same thing could happen to her. And in fact, Auda was much more cautious about just everything. She wouldn't eat certain foods, do certain activities and even prayed to Freyja each night for her pregnancy to be safe and fruitful. She became paler, much quieter. Or maybe she was just depressed. But, in any case, she had asked Brandan to sacrifice the goat they received from Elder Gothi for their marriage to dedicate to Freyja but Arnheim adamantly refused to let him do it and Ingrid agreed mostly because the goat gave them good milk and cheese, and because she was quite superstitious that it would place a curse on their marriage. Instead of the goat, Arnheim bought a small runt calf off his friend to sacrifice to Freyja right in their backyard away from the chicken coop in the grass. Astrid hated that too. She could still hear the squeal of fear from the poor calf and the spurt of blood as the throat was slit.

Brandan was not in attendance, playing sick because he didn't follow the same gods the Hoffersons did and Arnheim didn't know that. He had always been a die-hard believer in what Brandan called their religion once, something along the lines of 'paganism'. Astrid didn't really remember or care to, but she sort of remembered what Brandan called his own religion while trying to explain the entirely-foreign concept to her, and he said something like 'Christianity' or some other weird word she didn't get. The whole concept of one god didn't quite reach her, and once again, she didn't really care. She didn't seem to care about a lot lately.

Astrid was asked by Auda to sew some new baby clothes for her sexless child so she didn't have to pull out the twenty-five-year-old baby clothes from when Aislin was a baby out of the attic, saying they were 'way out of fashion'. Astrid responded humorlessly with, "I didn't know babies had fashion". Auda didn't respond, only threw some cloth into her lap and stormed off to the kitchen. Astrid shrugged and sketched out the layout of the selected beige-colored linen.

She zoned out for a couple of hours, sewing painstakingly tight stitches to prevent tears from the baby and to ensure durability for Auda's children and possibly her own. Astrid paused, letting the thought sink in. _Children_. She was very close to having her own children, probably going to be pregnant within the year. Going to be a mother. The thought absolutely terrified her. Astrid, a mother? With her own children to fawn over and take care of, wiping snotty noses and changing dirty diapers and waking up at ungodly hours of the night because of ear-shattering screams? She doubted she could even decently carry a child with how narrow her hips were. But _children_? She liked kids to an extent, but having her own was a completely different story! Aislin had two before she died and she was the oldest with a body shape similar to hers. The odds were against her, totally. She didn't want kids after Aislin died, it seemed terrible and painful and _horrendous_, pushing a kid out from _there_—was that even possible? Astrid had never seen a live birth, only the it-felt-I-was-being-ripped-apart-from-the-inside't rants and the squishy, wrinkled baby afterward. Babies so young weren't even cute! No way, no how was she having kids, nope. Right now she is vowing to be a virgin. Even if she ends up marrying Hiccup. Actually—

Wait.

Oh, right.

_She's going to marry Hiccup_.

Maybe. But that might as well be a fact considering how long Ingrid and the chief had been friends.

And blaming Loki and his damn tricks, Astrid heard her parents discussing it now right in the living room, right in front of her and she hadn't been paying attention until now.

"… The boy's as big as my wrist, Ingrid. Hardly bigger than a small sapling. He's no good, alweys 'ad bin," Arnheim said, currently adorning his spectacles and drawing out designs on a sheet of vellum laid on the low table in the living room. Ingrid, next to him on the bench, was also sewing some baby clothes with a bright candle lit next to her because the sun was setting.

"Yes, he is. I think he's a good match. He's awfully polite… and smart. Arnheim, he does the same thing you do but with machines," she said, gesturing to his designs. "He makes weapons with Gobber, and Odin, you should be glad he hasn't gone nuts yet working with him. The poor boy never gets enough credit from the village. And besides, two years ago, you referenced him to your little finger and now you say your wrist so he's obviously grown," Ingrid said slowly, elegantly reminding her husband of all the good things Hiccup possessed. Astrid smirked, but continued to pretend she wasn't listening.

"But it's only bin two years, Ingrid. Farr all we knoow, the lad may as well _goh_ nuts like that one fellow some years ago."

Ingrid huffed. "I highly doubt that, dear. If Astrid likes him, then he must not be crazy like you say," Astrid could see from the corner of her eye that both of them looked to her briefly and that her mother smiled.

Arnheim's voice was quiet when he spoke in hushed undertones. "All the kids these days are crazy. Look at the Thorston twins. Thor almighty."

"Of course they're a little nuts. They've always been."

"And tha's what I'm sayin', you silly woman. Once a village embarrassment, alweys a village embarrassment; like once you're crazy, you're alweys crazy. He _is_ crazy, he brought all those dragons here. There are some good to 'em, but they take up too much space and eat too much food."

"We're not going to get into that whole ordeal now. The point is, is that Hiccup is a good match, you just don't have your spectacles on right to see it. Auda and Brandan even like him; the whole village does. We all owe him so much credit, Arnheim. I'm sure mothers flock to Stoick to ask him for his hand, but we're just lucky enough that we can marry our daughter to a well-off man. It was hard enough finding Kollr; Astrid's done most of the work for us. It's just the dowry we have to worry about."

Arnheim sighed and leaned back on the bench, taking off his spectacles to rub his eyes. He got up with creaking and popping joints to go fetch some matches and a few candles, coming back to set two candles on the table and light them. "Ohh, the dowry. The god's knoow what we're goin' to do aboot tha'."

Astrid intently listens while she sews but mumbles things to herself to make it not seem like it. This was so exciting to listen to, but nerve-wracking as well. Her parents were talking about her marriage to Hiccup, for Thor's sake! She almost thought them silly to do so with her in the same room and in close vicinity, so she almost thought her mother was doing it on purpose so she could hear. That was probably true. Her father was kind of dumb enough to go along with whatever Ingrid brought up to discuss. She hadn't heard a word about the engagement or even thought about it in a week, too busy with _nothing_ and constantly thinking about her sister, but in any case, it was uplifting.

"We gave a full ship to Kollr's family knowing his father was the ambassador for the rulers on the mainland and Kollr was soon to be the same. Also, that along with some sheep," Ingrid replied, her eyes narrowed to what she was sewing.

"But what's Stoick goin' to do with a couple a sheep and a ship? Nothing. You know tha'. The only thing I can think of is money. What in the Hel do you give a chief for a dowry?"

"Money."

"Tha' doesn't help."

"I'll negotiate with him… soon," _Oh, really, _Astrid thought, smirking to herself again.

"Do it soon because I want to get this damn thing over with. I hated arranging Aislin's marriage and I hate this one."

"But you're not arranging it, I am. So relax."

Arnheim more or less groaned and ran a thick hand through his thinning black and grey hair, then rubbed his beard in thought. It was quiet for a minute before Ingrid told Astrid to help Auda in the kitchen for making supper. Astrid sighed, knowing she couldn't listen anymore, and set the sewing project down before doing what her mother asked.

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"You can go home, Dagger. There isn't much else to do today," Hiccup said on the banks of a sigh, rubbing his throbbing forehead. It was late in the day but the sun hadn't set yet, much earlier than regular closing time, but all Hiccup wanted to do was go home and sketch and maybe journal some and go to bed. He hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of days and now that he was tired and yearning for bed, he jumped at the chance. Besides, the pile of weapons was reduced to only eight now, having almost nothing to do since Astrid's been confined to her house for just over a week. He had taken Toothless out a few days ago for a couple of rounds around the island and that helped to alleviate the boredom, but coming back to real life and having to do something with it made him feel a little trapped.

"Tomorrow do I get to know how to heat stuff?" Dagger asked, wiping his sweaty forehead with his arm after closing the fire doors. Hiccup noticed his arms and the growing toned-ness to them, even for a lanky ten-year-old. Dagger's dusty brown hair was skewed in all directions in the front so Hiccup fixed to for him when he passed by to put his little apron on the designated hook.

"Maybe, if I don't wake up dead," Hiccup said drearily, putting his own apron on a hook after tossing off his sooty and sweaty and hot gloves.

"Don't be so negative. You always act like everything's going to be the end of you," Dagger said with a teasing tone to his voice, sweeping up the floor.

Hiccup blew air through his lips in a scoff. "I do not."

"Yeah, you do, like the other day when that lady ordered new cauldron hooks and you nearly groaned with the thought of it though Gobber said they were 'easier than anythin' ta make, you blasted fool'," Dagger repeated his master in a decent accent, though not nearly as god as Hiccup's mastered one.

"Okay, well, that day sucked. I burnt my arm on the edge of the coal bed and I still have a blister from it," To prove his point, Hiccup raised his right forearm to show the outside of it to Dagger. About two inches away from the bone of his elbow was an angry red oval about the size of a thumbprint, the edges faintly yellow. Dagger raised his eyebrows, not entirely impressed.

"You're so dramatic. Remember that day I tripped and my face would have fallen into the coals if it didn't hit the edge? Well, my forehead did and a chunk of my hair burnt and I still have the mark," Dagger pointed to a red and purple spot just at his hairline, and lucky for him it was where his hair parted so no hair had to be cut. "You've been so mopey lately, too. Even Gobber says so, and you know how unobservant he is. I mean, if he notices something, you must be really obvious. No offense, but you can't hammer things right, either. You used to do it really good and forceful and stuff but now you're just like _ehhh_," Dagger demonstrates a weak hammer throw like a classified sissy would do, or a thirteen-year-old Hiccup.

Hiccup raised a brow. "Thank you for summing that up."

Dagger sniggered and swept his accumulated pile outside, leaning the broom back against the wall where he found it. Hiccup had his back to him, scooping ash into a bucket silently and Dagger suddenly felt sorry. "You know I was just teasing you," he said weakly, watching Hiccup's shoulder blades move beneath his tunic.

Hiccup didn't say anything or for a few seconds, only focusing on the ash. "I know," he said, pausing. He looked over his shoulder at Dagger and offered a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dagger."

Dagger felt relieved knowing his master didn't take his stupid insults seriously, his poor attempt at being funny that the other kids would have been actually insulted by. He left with a wave, running outside and leaving the door open to let the hot air out.

Hiccup returned home after cleaning up some menial things, relieved he can finally relax somewhat decently and maybe even sleep okay. He's always been a fickle sleeper, but there are those times where he can sleep like a rock, especially when he's drunk. He sleeps like a bear when he's drunk and it can be sometimes the best sleep he knows. He rubbed his head and tousled his hair while opening up the door in mid-yawn. Looking inside, he noticed the bright candles and that the fire was lit, odd, and it drew his eyes to where he saw none other than Ingrid Hofferson and his father jumping apart.

"Oh gods!" Hiccup shouted and immediately slammed the door, hoping to rid images from his mind. _Oh, no. Please no, no, nooo. Ugh. Gross! Ew, ew, ew! _"UUUGH!" Hiccup convulses and prays Astrid's mother and his father weren't… _kissing_, because it certainly looked like it the way they jumped apart!

Hiccup plopped himself down on the porch step and held his head, suddenly feeling his world falling apart. His father having relations with Ingrid in this way would mean he couldn't marry Astrid, her dad would probably be after his head (for some unfathomable reason but Hiccup deemed it likely), Ingrid would get a divorce with backing from his dad, then marry him, and then Hiccup would be family to Astrid and that would be unethical to marry her! "Goodbye, future! Goodbye, life! Hiccup spoke to himself, running his hands over his face. _No_, this can't be happening!

Just as he gets up to go somewhere—anywhere—, the door opened and both his father and Ingrid step outside with confused looks on their faces. "What are you doin', son? What are ye shoutin' about?" Stoick spoke first, stepping onto the porch step.

Hiccup spun around, looking insane with his hair screwed up and his eyes wide with his hands plastered to the sides of his face. "Are you having relations with Astrid's mom?" Hiccup's voice cracks on 'relations', looking intently between the two of them.

It took the two parents almost twenty seconds to understand, and once they looked at each other, they started howling with laughter. Hiccup's mouth dropped and he relaxed a little, waiting patiently for his fate to be sealed with his future-fiancé or step-sister. He begged the gods for it to be the former, otherwise prayed for Thor to have some sort of pity on him and hit him with Mjöllnir.

"Oh, gods, no, Hiccup. Gross," Ingrid laughed delightfully with her cheeks slightly red.

Stoick spoke through his hearty laugh, saying, "Absolutely not, son, never. We were only discussin' the dowry for Astrid to marry you."

Oh.

That certainly put Hiccup's raging thoughts to a complete utter standstill. Stopped them dead.

Hiccup tossed his head back and threw his arms up as if in victory, groaning in relief and relaxing. "Good! Thank the All-Father, I thought I was gonna die!"

Still chuckling, Stoick said, "Well, you thought wrong. Alweys jumpin' to conclusions, you are. We're just about done so you can get inside't. Go on, naow," Stoick shoos his idiotically-grinning son inside.

Hiccup doesn't even take a detour to the kitchen cabinets though he hasn't eaten all day; that little scene knocked all the appetite out of him. He stops for a minute to scratch Toothless' neck and leaves him on the rug to go up to his room, his gait heavier than usual. Toothless notices this and he follows Hiccup with his eyes, making a low, sad grumble in his throat that catches Hiccup's attention. He paused on the stairs and looked at Toothless, the dragon looking worried. "I'm alright, bud. I've just got a lot on my mind," Hiccup said with an attempt at a reassuring smile, but Toothless continued to look at him, unconvinced. Hiccup sighed and gestured for Toothless to follow him.

Toothless got up from the rug in two seconds flat, and now after a few years, he can safely navigate the house without knocking a hundred things over. He clambered after Hiccup to his room, which was a little small for a dragon with his particular wingspan, but Hiccup doesn't care much anymore after cleaning up after him so much. Hiccup sat on the edge of his bed with a sigh and Toothless lay down in front of him, looking very intent for whatever Hiccup had to say. There was a very uncharacteristic look to Hiccup's eyes that made Toothless unsettled, and the small smile on his human's face wasn't at all genuine. It was so obvious to Toothless for he wasn't doing a very good job at hiding whatever he was hiding. They went on adventures for two years together, just the two of them; Toothless knew Hiccup almost better than he knew himself.

Hiccup reached for a brown leather-bound journal sitting on his nightstand. He delicately held the book in his hands and Toothless watched as his eyes because just a little more hollow. "I found this the other day while looking through old boxes to find some more parchment. The last entry was seven years ago when I was eleven. I was looking through it and found a, uh… an entry on the two-year anniversary of my mom's death," Hiccup paused and pursed his lips, fighting against himself, his throat burning. He flipped to the page and scanned his eyes over it but quickly shut the book.

"It's been nine years. Nine. That's half of my life. But… I feel like she wasn't there at all, like… she had left much earlier. And I've been thinking: how sad is that? To feel like your mom was never there when you know she was? Astrid's sister died just over a week ago and she knew her up until then. I was also thinking… would she feel this way in nine years? That she had never known her sister who was clearly in her life?" Hiccup looked up at Toothless after awhile, and a few tears dripped down his nose so he hurriedly wiped them away.

Toothless took the opportunity to nuzzle Hiccup's face with his nose, giving low and guttural noises to make him feel better. Touched by his pure kindness, Hiccup did smile a little and hugged his giant head, his scales cool to his burning face. "There's just been so much going on, Toothless, I'm so overwhelmed. I'm just about done with Astrid's saddle and I need to get it to her but they haven't had the mourning drinking ceremony yet and I don't want to intrude. I ran in on my dad and Ingrid and I thought they were _kissing_, for the gods' sake. I'm most likely getting _married_—gods, I can't even wrap my head around that one. I just want to sleep forever at this point, honestly," he let out a humorless chuckle before Toothless suddenly pushed him down to his bed and Hiccup made a noise of surprise.

"Alright, fine, I'll go to bed _now_, if you so insist. You're so pushy," Hiccup said teasingly and crawled underneath the covers after taking of his prosthetic. Okay, this was great. "Thanks for listening to me, bud. I appreciate it," Hiccup rested his hand on Toothless' jaw in thanks, smiling at him as the Nightfury rested his head on his bed. Toothless smiled without showing his gums and gave Hiccup a not-too-slobbery lick to his cheek before curling up on the floor next to Hiccup's bed. "Thanks, _you're the best_," Hiccup said sarcastically while wiping his cheek off with his bed sheet.

00

"…The iron is very malleable at this point so you have to be careful about where you place your hits," Hiccup explained patiently to Dagger, demonstrating the shaping of a strip of metal that would soon be folded multiple times to create a sword. "However, one wrong hit isn't going to be the end of the world—just don't do it again," he offered a light smile when Dagger's eyes widened a bit. "It'll be heated and re-heated and heated again and if you mess up too many times the metal will become too fragile to work with. But, if you're careful and precise, you won't waste your time and the metal will be workable. It's a very stubborn substance, so you should know some ways to appease it," Hiccup winked. "So, get back to pumping the bellows," he shooed Dagger away from the anvil with his glove, putting the other one on.

"My arms _hurt_," Dagger whined, taking the handle and pushing it down with all his might.

"I said that everyday for sixteen years and then those big women made sure I never said it again," Hiccup brazenly flexed an arm muscle, maybe not quite a forth of his father's tree trunk sized arms. He laughed loudly when Dagger rolled his eyes and groaned.

It was quiet in the forge between the two of them, aside from Hiccup's strikes on the metal and flipping it with pliers and dipping it into the bucket of water along with the bellow wheezing. Dagger shoveled some coals into the fire and on the bed, adding in more wood as well. Hiccup lost himself in making the soon-to-be sword as he always did. He let the metal rest after some time and showed Dagger how to use the grindstone to sharpen a few blades as Hiccup went through the rain to the tanner to get a few sheets of leather to finish some parts on Astrid's saddle, coming back with a slightly green face.

"Why do you look like you're about to puke everywhere?" Dagger asked, happily pumping the peddle, glad to be doing something more productive.

"Let's just say there's a reason the tanner is a mile away from the village," Hiccup replied with disgust dripping off his words and shivered off the chill from outside, taking off his cloak and hanging it by the fire to dry and placing the roll of leather on the counter, pulling the twine to unravel it. He cut some strips of perfectly measured leather, taking some pins and eyelets from a bin and bringing them back to the table he was using for Astrid's saddle. It was a beautifully crafted thing, solid but bendable enough to fit between the wings where Astrid would sit, edges lined with carefully applied burns in the shapes of knots he referenced from his journal of his time among the Celtic tribes of Ireland. He worked in a Nadder along the back of the seat and put her name on the bottom of it so it would officially be hers. Now he just had to add a belt to buckle around the dragon's stomach and a few eyelets for the aesthetic purpose of it.

Just as Hiccup was getting to work on the measurements the buckle would have to be to fit the leather, Dagger said his name. He turned around, ready for a few entirely too in-depth questions, only to see Astrid standing sheepishly in the doorway with the hood of her cloak on from the rain outside. Hiccup couldn't help but stare at her for a minute, too shocked to register she was actually standing there. He wordlessly gestured for her to come inside and she did so tentatively, pulling off the hood of her cloak as she walked farther inside. Her boots were muddy and the bottom hem of her shin-length dress was wet from the incessant downpour outside. She wore her fillet and her hair was puffy, giving off the sense that she was still out of sorts and Hiccup didn't doubt why for a second.

"Here, take off your cloak," Hiccup said gently and she unbuckled the clasp and took it from her shoulders, handing the soaked cloak to him. Hiccup hung it by the fire next to his drying one. He walked back over to her and put his hands on her upper arms and rubbed them, looking her sincerely in the eyes before hugging her.

Astrid raised her chin to rest on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, sighing halfway in between contentment and weariness. They were like that for a bit while Dagger continued to use the grindstone, purposefully not looking in their direction. Hiccup let go of Astrid first and started leading her to his backroom, and on the way he told Dagger to keep doing what he was doing but not to tilt the sword just so, and when he was done with that one to do a few more and then he was free to go home for supper. Astrid walked inside and Hiccup pulled the curtains shut just a little so he could hear Dagger if he called for help but closed enough so he couldn't hear over the grinding. He gestured for Astrid to sit down on the one available chair and he pulled up a crate for himself to sit directly across from her.

Astrid sighed again and brought a hand to her forehead when she sat down, her eyes closed. She opened her eyes to look at him and saw him looking at her too. Hiccup was a little startled to see her eyes appearing so grey instead of the usual ice-blue he was accustomed to seeing. Instead of pointing this out because it only made her look more depressed, Hiccup asked, "How are you?" When she didn't reply or react right away, Hiccup realized what he said and corrected himself. "I'm sorry. I asked exactly what I told myself not to."

Astrid's mouth cracked just a little into a smile. "It's fine. The question does get extremely annoying when people repeatedly ask even though they don't care," she responded lightly, accepting Hiccup's warm hands compared to her clammy ones due to the unusually chilly and cold rain pattering on the roof.

"But I do want to know how you're doing," Hiccup asked calmly, his eyes piercing and almost pleading.

Astrid swallowed, looking away. She really didn't want to talk about her feelings after mulling over them for a week and a half straight and crying from it. She was really quite done with crying. "Hiccup…,"

"Please? You can talk to me about it," he said softly but she still got a bit annoyed. She didn't like being pushed to _talk about feelings_.

She lightly scoffed, slumping a little. "How any person would feel after the death of a family member. Gloomy, grieving. But I don't want to be in depressed-land anymore, we just had the mourning drinking ceremony this morning; she's safe somewhere in the afterlife. I'll see her again. It's just different knowing she's not in real life anymore, that someone so close to me died. I haven't known any family who has actually died. My dad's mom died in a raid on Meathead but I never knew her. It's just weird," she furrowed her brows and pursed her lips tight. Astrid had stared off while she had been talking, and when she looked at Hiccup, she couldn't help but jut out her jaw a little and stare at him too as if she was sizing him up. "You look different," she said simply.

Hiccup let out a guffaw, bringing his hand up to his chin. "I shaved. It was getting really bad," he blushed a little and Astrid felt a bit of relief from the tension she was feeling at seeing the shy Hiccup she knew and missed. It was also weird to go through a week of mourning constantly and doing nothing but sit—not even clean—and come back to the real world to see and _talk_ to her boyfriend. Honestly, Hiccup was not at the top of her list of Things and People to Think About.

"And your hair is getting longer," she reached out and brushed his bangs out of his face, running her hand through the almost-wavy ends of his hair around the nape of his neck. Hiccup smiled gently and took her hand to kiss her knuckles before leaning in to kiss her mouth. It was riveting. He missed her and it felt great to be able to kiss her again because he doubted her existence, thought their relationship was a dream after hardly any word from her (which he understood the reasons as to why). Just the touch of her skin relaxed him and assured him that she was indeed real.

Hiccup leaned back on his crate, still holding her hand with her other one now included. "I'm glad to know you're doing better since the last time I saw you."

Astrid smiled faintly, sighing. She missed him more than she realized. He was her anchor to this earth and she had lost him for awhile, floating in the cosmos, and being in his presence again made her feel safe from all the cruel things in the world, but she was no longer blinded. This whole summer had been one big whirlwind of recklessness and ignorance, the worst aspect being her father, and now compared to the death of her sister it seemed like nothing. It changed everything. It all appeared to her like a dream and looking at Hiccup now, she knew everything had to be real. That… maybe there was that stupid thing called hope.

"What?" Hiccup asked, breaking her out of her stupor. "You've been staring at me."

"Oh," Astrid blinked, looking to their joined hands. Her heart skipped a beat or two. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"You want to cut it, don't you?" Hiccup brought a hand up to his head, raking his fingers through his dark brown hair and crookedly smirking. Oh, how she did miss him.

"Yes, I would like to cut it," she cocked her head and raised her brows like she was saying 'damn right I do'.

Hiccup laughed and the sound to her was like a chime. "I'll go get some scissors," he let go of her hands and left the room. Astrid stood up from the chair because she was going to make him sit in it, going to look at machine designs tacked up on the wall behind his desk and the many in-progress ones lying on the desk's surface. She picked up a couple and gave up trying to read his scribbly handwriting that was almost as bad as hers. She picked up a sheet of designs for a sword hilt, the pattern to be accented by some type of jewel. He made a note about what kind of jewel it was but there was no way in Hel it could be a legitimate word.

Hiccup walked into the backroom with a pair of scissors, telling Dagger some sharpening hints and paused when he saw Astrid flip a sheet of vellum upside down. "What is that supposed to say?" she asked and he walked over to see what she was pointing at.

"'Garnet'," he simply replied, wondering why she was curious. "Why?"

"It's a beautiful design. Is it a longsword?" Astrid was genuinely interested. Why would he put so much effort and beauty into a design with a _garnet_? There wasn't much use of decorative things up in places where they were at because it was bound to be broken by some Viking or another reason.

"It's not my design," Hiccup said, grabbing a grimy towel from the desk and slinging it around his shoulders. "I saw it in Normandy. I liked it and, obviously, I couldn't afford it, so I just drew it quickly. The smith told me it took him ten years to make it, give or take a couple of months," he sat down in the chair and handed Astrid the scissors when she set the sheet down with an approving look on her face. She walked around him to the back of the chair and began to cut his hair, little by little, tiny slivers of hair falling onto the towel like snow.

"Guess what I heard my mother and father talking about a few days ago?" Astrid asked with a sudden twist to her stomach accompanied by her mouth going dry. Hiccup hummed a 'what?' "They were talking about arranging our marriage and what to get for a dowry," Why was she suddenly feeling sick? What was this?

Hiccup swallowed, feeling his neck heat up. "Yeah… Ingrid was over at my house yesterday and I walked in on them while they were talking about it and I thought they were… kissing."

Astrid guffawed. "Oh, gross!"

Hiccup laughed. "I know. I almost had a heart attack," he stopped and pursed his lips. "Uhm… nevermind," _Stupid! What were you going to even say, you stupid fool! _

"No, what?" Astrid asked, continuing to snip at his hair around his neck. "_Hiccup_? You prodded me, so you have to say what you were about to."

"No, it's dumb—,"

"Shut up, no it's not. Don't be so scared to say what's on your mind. Stop second-guessing yourself," Astrid paused, placing a firm hand on his shoulder to get him to turn around. She looked at him hard in the eye, her mouth in a straight line; she wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush. Hiccup brushed his skewed bangs out of his eyes and looked up at her, finding he indeed doubted himself against what he had successfully been doing these last few weeks. But now, he suddenly didn't want to ask the question that had been bugging him since Day One. He was suddenly scared. But he wanted to know her answer. He was dying to know. And there was no way to tell unless he asked, and that was what he was scared of.

"Do you love me?"

Surprisingly, his voice didn't waver, it just came out weaker than he intended but that was okay because he finally got it out. He almost didn't care that her eyes widened and her mouth slackened just so that he wanted to kiss her but he was still worried. Would she say yes? Or would she ruin his life by saying no and prove to him that these long past weeks _were_ all a dream and he had simply been a fool to even fathom it?

She didn't get a change to answer, however, as there was a cry and a loud clattering noise from the other room and that caught Hiccup's attention. He immediately got up to go see Dagger, leaving Astrid stunned in the backroom.

_Forelsket, damn it,_ Astrid thought, pressing her free hand to her forehead. She didn't answer him. She didn't know. Did she love him? Didn't she? Yes? No? She knew for sure it wasn't a blatant _no_, but a maybe? Probably more than a maybe… but that would mean she did love him, and she didn't know what that was or what it felt like. What was love? Was this love? Her cutting his hair? Her being his girlfriend for almost a month? Was that love? She didn't know. She hated not knowing, not knowing what to think.

Her heart was fluttering like sparrow's wings and she didn't quite know how to capture it. She held onto the back of the chair and closed her eyes. She was probably going to marry him. Willingly. And she was happy about it. Auda and Brandan married because they loved each other and it was on their own accord. She and Hiccup were _probably _going to marry because it was her mother who saw what their relationship was and only kickstarted the process. She couldn't see herself marrying anyone else. She couldn't see herself _loving _anyone else.

She covered her eyes with her hand, suddenly too overwhelmed to think straight, her thoughts going around and around in carousels. Hiccup came back into the room with his hair half cut, catching Astrid on surprise. He looked down to his feet and sat right back down with the towel still around his shoulders. He saw that she was deep in thought, obviously implying she was still unsure and that was better than what Hiccup could have ever hoped for, but a solid 'yes' would have made him soar. He knew he loved her and that much was clear; never doubted it since he was thirteen. His love for her has, of course, grown and matured over time, but he could feel it so deep in his bones he just simply wanted affirmation. But he knew to give her time. Time was of the essence for these sorts of things.

"What happened?" Astrid asked, starting to trim his hair again.

"Dagger let a shortsword flip and it cut his hand a little. It's all wrapped up now and he's fine. I moved him to polishing blades up so I wouldn't have to risk him losing a finger," Hiccup replied, the last sentence a little louder than normal so Dagger could hear, a light teasing tone to his voice.

"Hey!" Dagger shouted from the forge itself, making both Astrid and Hiccup laugh.

All awkward questions aside, it was nice for both of them to be together again.

00

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><p>(10) Heimdall is a Norse god who's the protectorgatekeeper of the Bifrost, the only entrance into the realm of the gods, Asgard.

Anonymous:

**Zman66: Thank you very much! I'm glad the long chappies make your day, lol, because I personally like them too but not everyone does, so I like to keep them to a reasonable limit. ;)**

**Review from Anonymous saying "human faces had almost no math to it": Okay, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate the flame (really, no sarcasm). And, yes, I have taken '9th grade art'. I've taken around 10 art classes in my school and I've been drawing for 6 years on my own, no outside classes taken. In my personal experience, I have never nor will I ever use math to draw a human face. Really, those are for beginners for people who don't know how to tell the difference between an H and an HB pencil. I understand my grammatical error and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I have flaws with my writing because I write mostly whats to mind without really editing it (which I have been working on), so I understand what you're saying-grammar errors bug the hell out of me too. **

**Adam: Thank you so much! And Hiccup will be epic at the wedding, I promise you, hahaha. **

**Voldyn: OMG I loved your review. I laughed my pants off when I read it. I'm glad you were too drunk enough to log on because it absolutely made my day. **


	17. Chapter 16

Short chapter, guys. A whole 2,000 words shorter than my average! Whooo-wee. It's mostly a filler-chapter to stick in events and show the passage of time. Adding more meaty-meat to the bones of this story, lolol. Anyway.

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><p>00<p>

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Sixteen

00

Hiccup had finished Astrid's saddle early in the morning and brought it by her house to give it to her. However, Ingrid answered the door with an obvious red nose that Hiccup chose to disregard. It was painful to see someone look so sad to him. He gave her his best comforting smile and lifted up the saddle as an indication.

"Is Astrid home?" he asked in a gentle, friendly voice. Ingrid's eyes were watery from either crying or the bright sunlight coming from behind Hiccup, but either way, it was no wonder where Astrid's eyes got their luminescence from; Ingrid's were almost a shockingly bright green.

"No, she's at Hallbera's," she replied simply, looking at the saddle curiously. "Did you make her that?"

"I did. I broke and lost her other one so I figured I owed her this. Either that or she will hunt me down until I made one," he laughed once airily to try and ease her mood, but when she didn't crack much of a smile he decided trying to joke now wasn't a smart choice. "Well, uhm… if I could just leave this here for her, then…,"

"Go bring it back to the barn. I don't have a place here for it," she said in a flat voice though she clearly didn't mean offense to him or the saddle.

_Now was a bad time to come, Hiccup. _"Okay," he said quietly and turned around to walk off the porch.

"Hiccup," Ingrid said, stopping him just three feet from the steps. She hadn't moved. He turned around, squinting his eyes against the sunlight for he could hardly see her standing against the dark of the inside of the house. "It was very kind of you to make that for her. I'm sure she'll like it," Ingrid offered a crooked smile but Hiccup saw right through it, sadly. He nodded a thank you and continued walking around the house to the barn.

Walking inside, Spike nearly flew right through the ceiling in excitement, whipping her tail all along the walls and getting her quills stuck in twenty different places. "Oh, whoa! Hey, Spike, nice to see you too!" Hiccup said in surprise, taking her jabbing nasal horn to his face in her form of affection times ten. He scratched her scales with his free hand, saying, 'oh, yes, I know you've been lonely', ' watch that tail!', and 'ohhh yeah' as he rigorously scratched off dead scales. He set the saddle over the windowsill between the storage pens and Spike's claimed space scattered with hay.

"Astrid's been gone, huh?" Hiccup said to her and she made an angry squawk like, 'damn right!' "She's been going through a tough time, so give her some slack, okay? For me?" he nodded and scratched her Nadder's sweet spot, right behind the crown of spikes, and in response, she thumped her back leg and made a deep guttural sound of enjoyment. "Alright, good. Glad I forced that out of you," he winked playfully. "Now, miss, you need to stretch your wings and gossip. I am prescribing you this medication so you have to. Meanwhile, I'll do Astrid a favor and clean your hangout space. If you do this, I'll make sure you get plenty of halibut, since I hear it's your favorite," he looked at her convincingly, nodding his head like 'yeah, you want to'. Spike flapped her wings and walked through the wide side door and took off.

"Phew," Hiccup sighed, taking the pitchfork leaning against the wall. He broke quite the sweat taking all the hay off the ground, sweeping it into a pile, picking up all the hay again, and sweeping, do so multiple times until the entire barn was clean. The heat was almost staggering in the barn; it was no wonder Spike hardly left. Throughout his years in the Dragon Training business, he concluded that dragons love as much heat as possible, and their ability to withstand high temperatures far exceeded a human's tolerance. This theory is proven by dragons still hiding out in the near-ruined volcano, migrating far south to nurture their offspring, and why many swim and bathe in the hot springs around Berk and other such places. He actually had to take off his tunic to finish scooping up the hay and then to scatter it.

He brought in a fish basket and left it open for Spike to access whenever she came back, leaving in a hurry because he left Dagger at the forge by himself so he could deliver Astrid's saddle. His shirt was horrendously sweaty and damp, so he quickly jogged home through the streets, and to his immense surprise, earned a few whistles and envious eyes from the village women. Needless to say, his flushed face and neck were not only from the heat.

He quickly snagged a dirty tunic from the floor of his room and went back to the forge, but standing on the stairs leading from his house, he noticed a clustering of boys at the door. "Must be Dagger's friends," he said to himself and continued down the steps until he reached the road. As he walked closer, he could see Dagger, and he didn't look happy. _Okay, or not_, Hiccup thought. Then, suddenly, Dagger was pulled into a headlock by one boy who he had been talking to and his face quickly turned red from being choked.

Five or so other boys were laughing and pointing fingers as the boy continued holding Dagger, shouting, "Big ears! Biiig ears! Big as sails!" Dagger tried pulling his arm off from around his neck, but being clearly weaker than the boy, who was also clearly older, couldn't do it. Hiccup fiercely and angrily stomped through the ring of boys and startled them all so much they immediately shut their mouths when they recognized Hiccup, all their eyes as wide as plates. The boy who had Dagger in a head lock quickly let go of him and he dropped to his hands and knees, coughing and wheezing.

"You should be ashamed of yourselves. We don't need any repeats of bullies around here. Go," Hiccup said with a harsh bite, looking sharply in all their startled eyes. He waved his hand and they all ran like spurned sheep, dirt flicking up after their bare feet. Hiccup immediately cooled down and took a deep breath and a slow exhale as he picked Dagger up from the ground by his upper arm. "Are you okay?" Hiccup asked quietly, biting his lip. He couldn't believe that just happened, and to Dagger nonetheless.

Dagger nodded, rubbing his throat. "I didn't do anything," he said lamely in a scared tone, looking defeated up at Hiccup with confused and hurt eyes.

Hiccup nodded. Oh, he knew that all too well. "I know. I know you didn't," he rubbed Dagger's arm in an attempt at comfort. "Come," Hiccup gestured him inside and no more words were spoken about the incident.

Nighttime came in a hurry as it seemed to Hiccup for he had just got to work and the next thing he knew Dagger was saying goodbye and closing the door behind him. Hiccup was so engrossed in twisting a red hot metal rod he was too stunned to utter a legitimate goodbye. In any case, he quickly became tired and soon closed the forge. He locked the door and just as he turned around, there was a Nadder landing just ten feet from him in a _whoosh _of air, accompanied by its beautiful blonde rider.

Astrid smiled at him, the biggest one he'd seen yet, with sparkling eyes from the full moon. "Hey, there," Astrid said in a light tone, watching Hiccup walk up to Spike's flank.

"I see you've got the saddle on nicely," Hiccup said as he approached, crouching underneath Spike's belly to check the straps were tight enough and if they fit correctly. He stood up and shook the saddle a little, finding it secure. He smiled brightly up at Astrid, absentmindedly petting Spike's neck.

"It's beautiful. Thank you so much," Astrid leaned sideways and kissed the top of his head. "It's a lot more comfortable, too. Spike seems to like the difference as well."

"I'm glad," Hiccup put a hand on her bare knee and gave a gentle squeeze. "Going on a flight?"

"Yes, it's much overdue," Astrid laid her hand on top of his and lowered her eyes to it, clutching the steering strap a little tighter as she tried to think of how to say what she wanted to since she knew what Hiccup was going to ask.

"Do you—,"

"Tonight's more of a… solo flight. No offense to you or anything," Astrid said weakly, looking apologetic, holding his hand.

Hiccup didn't look much surprised. "Oh, no, not at all, I understand. I went alone with Toothless for two years, after all," he smiled knowingly. "You go fly. Tell me if there's any malfunctions in the saddle, it hasn't been tested yet."

"I will," she just wanted to hug him for his sweetness. "Thank you… again."

"Absolutely," Hiccup kissed her hand and stepped away with his hands in his pockets, watching Astrid and Spike take off into the night sky until they were entirely indiscernible.

00

Some older kids were holding a bonfire some nights later at the waterhole and Ruffnut and Tuffnut were adamant everyone go and crash it. Ruffnut had to almost physically drag Astrid out of her house and then it was Tuffnut who threw her over his shoulder. Hiccup was getting out of the forge early since Gobber was working today when he saw Astrid knee him in the stomach just right so she could jump off his shoulder and punch him square in the cheek. Hiccup was laughing along with Ruffnut and Snotlout before he even approached the four of them.

"Next time you do that, it'll be right into your nose," Astrid said sharply and poisonously, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes as Tuffnut spat out blood, grinning while the others laughed. He pulled himself up and clapped Astrid on the back.

"I'll hold you to that. That one hurt my jaw," he rubbed the left side of his jaw bone where a light purple bruise was already starting to form.

"What happened here?" Hiccup asked as he reached them.

"Tuff threw Astrid over his shoulder because she didn't want to go and she punched him in the face," Ruffnut summarized, standing next to Snotlout with her hands on her hips and a mischievous look to her face, her hip characteristically cocked.

"I _told_ him not to do that," Snotlout said with a bit of a smile as he rolled his eyes, but he didn't look as psyched as Ruffnut or Tuffnut. In fact, he actually looked a little anxious.

"Go where?" Hiccup furrowed his brows, noting Snotlout's strange antics.

"Didn't you hear?" Ruffnut said like it had to be the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, I've been kinda working all day," Hiccup said dryly and Astrid sniggered, her eyes dancing all over his face.

"Well, my dude, some older guys are holding this bonfire at the waterhole and we're all heading over—minus Fish because he's busy with some shit. Wanna join us?" Tuffnut squinted at him and smirked crookedly, almost as if he was trying to convince Hiccup to go with his mind powers or something.

He looked to Astrid, whose yellow hair was illuminated to look almost transparent in the bright orange sun, dusk quickly on its heels. "Sure. Why not?"

They all walked together to the swimming hole, and both to Hiccup and Astrid it was kind of funny they were going back to the place where so many things happened with so many people now populating the place. It was like the things were their own secret that happened and still nobody knew about, the incidents hardly upsetting the nature of it all. But Hiccup could still pick out the tree he remembered looking at as he experienced one of the most pleasurable things he had ever felt, and the sound of the waterfall almost made him laugh because he _clearly_ remembered that since he was sitting right next to it. He remembered waking up from passing out after sankthansaften and seeing one of the big mossy boulders in the middle of the pond that held the tree trunk between another boulder, the same one Astrid pushed Tuffnut off of. He knew it was a strange time to be thinking about all of this, but he couldn't help himself, suddenly feeling the urge to journal about it.

Many people were swimming and jumping off the boulders but there was a decent gathering around the bonfire where people sat on tree trunks for benches and stumps for stools and stood around, drinking from wine bottles and tankards with cheap ale. Hiccup and Astrid mostly hung around the fire, taking sips of drinks that were passed to them but neither wanted to get drunk so they ended passing the drinks to someone else. They chatted to people they knew and didn't, listened to stories ranging from funny to serious and intriguing, laughed at the real drunks tripping over their feet and those who hugged the trees. Snotlout mostly hung out with Hiccup and Astrid, surprisingly, because generally he would be all for going to mesh in with other groups to talk to girls, but he declined Tuffnut's and others efforts to get him to come with them. And, on top of it, he was oddly quiet.

Astrid didn't fail to notice these things either as she watched him swig from a wine bottle just a foot away from Hiccup, who she was leaning against as the night around them got a bit chilly despite the large fire. "Hey, 'Lout, what's up?" she had see him act this way before, however. He was usually the pouty type after a particular embarrassment or a defeat, but tonight he wasn't even trying to actively pursue girls. Something was up.

"Hm?" he looked over at her across Hiccup, one thick, black eyebrow raised and his eyes with a faraway look to them.

"What's up? You're awfully quiet," she said, sitting up straight and accepting a mead bottle from the girl next to her on the log. She took a swig, keeping her eyes on him. Hiccup melded into their conversation once he stopped listening to the other one's going on around him.

"Oh. Nothing," Snotlout replied convincingly, shrugging.

"Don't try that, 'Lout. It's been obvious all night," Hiccup said in a light tone, taking the bottle from Astrid when she handed it to him silently, taking a small sip.

Snotlout knew he was found out the moment Astrid said something un-Astrid-like to him. There was really no use in hiding it now, and besides, he was getting drunk so he couldn't really _not _talk about it. "Agnes and Bjørnstaud are here," he said in a quiet voice, leaning in their direction a bit. "It's just awkward."

_Oh_, Hiccup thought. _That's why_. He looked to Astrid and just by the expression on her face he could see she was confused. "They're engaged," he whispered in her ear and she immediately understood.

"I've never seen him upset like… that. He's a little pathetic-looking," she whispered back, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"I agree," Hiccup replied, looking at Snotlout.

"What?" Snotlout snapped, sneering.

"We're just saying how pathetic you look. All mopey-dopey and whatever," Astrid said without hesitation, acting completely unsympathetic almost to the point where it seemed cruel. "Seriously, I've never seen you so… _distraught. _It's almost painful."

Hiccup was particularly horrified by what was coming out of her mouth. Why would she say those things? Snotlout was certainly a huge jerk to him when they were younger, but he never considered being one back (at least without sarcasm), and he also knew Astrid to sometimes be insensitive, but he never thought she could be so blatant. "Astrid!—,"

"No, wait. Trust me," she put a hand on his chest to stop him, speaking lowly just to him.

"You don't have to—,"

"Shh!"

They watched Snotlout pause, looking at the fire with the bottle in his hand in between his knees. "What… are you trying to say, Astrid?" he looked dangerously over at her, his eyes narrowing but he still didn't seem to understand.

"You heard me. You look stupid sitting there like your momma grounded you," Astrid said with a smirk and Hiccup couldn't help but snigger, making Snotlout only more pissed off.

"Shut the Hel up," Snotlout said angrily, then took a big gulp and threw the empty bottle to the ground, exciting some drunken people near him to lean away and laugh. "Stop laughing!" he said through gritted teeth, his eyes becoming livid.

"Whoa, man, take it down a notch," a drunk guy said a few feet away from him, a lazy smile plastered on his face. Snotlout looked over at Astrid, who purposefully looked gloating and snooty, and he growled and stood up, stepping over the log and storming off.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Hiccup asked Astrid, looking a little worriedly at Snotlout's back as he disappeared between some people.

"Oh, he'll be fine. He'll be angry for a bit but then he'll do something and cool off and be back to normal. There's no other way to get through to his stupid, thick head unless you get him mad," Astrid explained, sighing and sitting up straight. She dug her heel into the dirt and sand mixture as she poked a stick into the fire.

"I hope it works," Hiccup said and watched the fire too.

Together, the two sat by the fire for what felt like forever until there was some shouting off to their right. It effectively caught everyone's attention as a big "OOOH!" disrupted the easy-going flow of the whole function. People started scrambling over to the source of all the noise and then Hiccup and Astrid realized what all the commotion was; there was a fight.

Astrid locked eyes with Hiccup and a mutual understanding passed between them, but only Astrid was the first one to speak it. "Oh, shit. 'Lout."

Hiccup stood up so quick as if he had been prodded with a hot stake and instinctively grabbed Astrid's hand, but she was up almost as fast as he was. They ran over to where everyone else was congregating, shouting and cheering and basically being obnoxious. Hiccup pulled Astrid through the ring so he stood just along the cleared out space where the two people were currently being broken up. Neither of the two were Snotlout, and in fact, he was holding one of the men back and doing a good job at it with his sheer size. Both Hiccup and Astrid physically slumped in relief, Hiccup more so than Astrid since he was obviously not into fighting like she was her whole life.

The crowd began to disperse and return to their activities and the two brawlers were separated to cool off and clean their bloodied faces. Hiccup looked over at Astrid and sighed, running a hand through his hair as she yawned behind her hands.

"I'll take you home," Hiccup said and put a hand on her upper back, leading her out of the waterhole site. There were no protests whatsoever and she happily went with him.

00

A few days later and after coming back from lunch, Hiccup was in a noticeably good mood. He had a certain bounce (and squeak) to his step and an ever-present smile on his face as he talked to Dagger while weaving leather for handles. Maybe it was because of the sun shining or maybe because he got to make out with Astrid last night—who knows. But it was awesome to get to kiss her again, at least in _that_ fashion. Or maybe it was because he had a damn good lunch. Either way, life was going alright for the first moment in a long time. Astrid loved the saddle, he pulled an awesome aerial flip with Toothless yesterday, Dagger's doing great with the grindstone—he sighed, finally being able to relax a bit. Not even his haunting journals were on his mind. It was great.

"…No, I think a Nadder would fit you better than a Nightmare. Hm… actually, maybe a Timberjack. There's some starting to migrate here from the forests and there's some who I'm sure would like a buddy," Hiccup said to Dagger, measuring some strips of leather as he sat on a stool along the counter.

"We're not supposed to pick a dragon until we're twelve. You made that rule," Dagger pointed out, pumping the peddle to get the stone up to speed.

"I know. It's just something to ponder on is all I'm saying. Just be careful of their wings, though, it's like a twenty-five-foot wingspan. And they don't have any arms so you do have to scratch their back—a lot—,"

"I know, Hiccup. It's in the Dragon Manual," Dagger rolled his eyes; now it was his turn to get exhausted over excessive talking.

"No, but really, they _love it_. And by the time you're twelve, there will be plenty of Timberjack babies to go around. They're probably the most docile, too, so that would be good for you. They're even better than Nadders. Or Gronkles."

"Yep."

"Hey, doesn't your sister have a Gronkle?"

"Emla? Yeah, her name's Wickedfoot… or something."

"Their toenails are hard to clean, so that would make sense, but they're the worst on keeping up with their hygiene. Nadder's are the cleanest because they're so vain—,"

"Yep."

"But they're very kind, so that's why I think a Nadder would be good for you, too. I don't know. People are hesitant to take up Timberjacks because they're 'new'."

"Hiccup!"

That was not Dagger who spoke. He had opened his mouth to speak, but someone else had ran up to the window and shouted into the forge with urgency. Hiccup immediately furrowed his brows and spun his head around to see that their face was washed in fear and shock that quickly got Hiccup's attention.

"What is it, Hack?" Hiccup asked, setting his tools down and forgetting them as he went over to Hack leaning in the window. There was a loud roar outside and a couple of screams. _What was going on? _

"It's a Nightmare. It lit itself on fire and it's goin' on a rampage. Houses are on fire, and…,"

He didn't need to say anymore. Hiccup swiftly snagged a rope off a hook on the wall and looked at Dagger with intent eyes at the door. "Get a bucket and fill it with water," Dagger immediately did so as Hiccup left and went with Hack down the road where the Nightmare was. "What happened?" he asked on the way.

"No one knows! It happened out of nowhere," Hack explained as he lead Hiccup down a side road and he then saw the Nightmare on top of a roof in his direct line of sight just at the end of the road. He started running faster through the people who were trying to run away from it as it spat out a jet stream of fire in the air and at some houses. There were some who were trying to swing ropes around its neck but the rope burned on contact or the Nightmare simply bit it off. Hiccup approached the house and dropped the rope to raise his hands up to it to hopefully use his dragon skills to calm it down from its hysteria.

"Hey, bud, it's okay! Relax!" he shouted up calmly but it proved to be no use as the Nightmare jumped off the roof and roared and a jet of fire came his way. He jumped to the right and rolled to avoid it and effectively did so. Above him on dragons, some villagers successfully dumped water on its head to put out the fire on its front half, the back from the torso to the tail still lit.

Hiccup had never been great at rolling in action; he hated doing it because his prosthetic always screwed him up somehow. He had rolled toward where he dropped the rope and he was able to pick it up when he stood in one semi-fluid motion, nearly tripping over his feet when he was upright again. But, turning around, the Nightmare lunged at him and he felt something tear into his side but he completely ignored it because his left arm came into contact with some of the fire on its flank. He shouted in pain with someone nearby tossed a loop of rope around the Nightmare's head and started pulling against it with a few other men. Hiccup forgot his arm and quickly tied the rope so he could toss it, but in the dragon's struggle he was knocked in the head by the Nightmare's wing, staggering sideways.

"Goddamn it," Hiccup groaned, holding the side of his head, and looking at his palm he saw a bit of blood. Okay. He could not get beat up by this Nightmare; he wasn't going to let it happen.

"Come on, we need more buckets!" Hiccup shouted. "Rope!" he tossed the rope over the Nightmare's back as a couple people kicked into gear, one person taking the rope he had tossed. "Wrap it around the front right wing!" he shouted over the commotion and the man did what he asked and Hiccup did the same to the left, being extra careful to avoid the long claws. Once the rope was around both wings, Hiccup and the other man yanked backwards so the Nightmare fell onto its chest. There were water buckets dumped onto the Nightmare and it was entirely put out so it could be swathed in rope and tied down.

Hiccup handed the bit of rope he was holding to another guy helping tie the still-writhing and entirely unpleasant Nightmare down, feeling suddenly lightheaded. "Yeah, yeah, just wrap up his jaw and bring him back to the stables," Hiccup said when someone asked what to do next.

"Hiccup?" Dagger appeared next to him at random, holding a full bucket of water, his eyes wide with surprise and voice dripping with disappointment knowing he missed it all.

"It's alright now. Everything's… everything's… okay," Hiccup slurred, swaying in his spot. _Ouch. _His side was stinging something fierce. He turned to Dagger and the boy gasped at the sight; on his left side on the front was a long claw mark from the middle of his ribcage under his arm to his hip. The wound wasn't deep enough to be fatal but was certainly deep enough to be concerning as blood was dripping down his pant leg already.

"Oh, gods, Hiccup!" Someone else shouted and heads turned to face him. The last thing he wanted was pity and now he knew he was going to be flooded with it. He fell to his knees and people rushed to him.

"This is ridiculous," Hiccup muttered before he fainted into someone's arms.

00

"This is seriously ridiculous!" a voice shouted, waking Hiccup from his sleep. _Yeah, geez, this _is_ ridiculous. Let's yell a little louder. Owww. My head. Ow. My arm. My side! _Hiccup thought, then sat up with such suddenness there was a shriek from the source of shouting. "No, you idiot, lay back down! You'll tear open your stitches! Gods!" That could only be Astrid.

And it was. She rushed to his bedside and pushed him back down, a little less than gentle, and Hiccup let out a mighty groan and a pained 'OW!' before complying to Astrid's forceful will. He laid back down on the pillows and opened his eyes, strange lights and sounds and smells coming to focus that reminded him nothing of his own bedroom or house. He squinted and could see Astrid looking at him worriedly and frustratingly, hanging plants and weird things from the ceiling, candles all across the room to give it an old, eerie feel. Once he could see straight, he saw the healer, Svala the Strange, walking toward him and telling Astrid to be gentler.

"Don't tell _me_ how to be gentle, old woman. I clearly remember you breaking my arm once," Astrid said, a warm hand on Hiccup's shoulder as if protectively while he still put the pieces of his surroundings together.

Svala was not as old as Astrid made her seem. She was probably not even fifty yet, her face hardly lined with wrinkles and her dark brown hair with only a few strands of grey. She smiled kindly at Hiccup though she spoke to Astrid, sitting on the short stool on the other side of the bed from her as she untied Hiccup's bandages around his torso. "No, I set your already-broken arm into place, dear. It only felt like I was breaking it because you were crying in such hysteria."

Astrid blushed with embarrassment and anger and pursed her mouth to keep from saying any unnecessary things. Hiccup laughed weakly at her expression but soon stopped because his stomach was so damn sore it was hard to even breathe. "Owww. This is ridiculous," Hiccup groaned and leaned his head back, wincing when Svala peeled the bandages from the poultice she applied to his wicked-looking claw marks. Those would be cool scars later. But it still hurt like Hel.

"You're telling me. I'm sewing at Hallbera's and I hear screams just two streets over and I'm already hearing things about a Nightmare gone berserk. I go to the scene and see you being carried off looking like you wrestled with it," Astrid said sternly in disbelief, holding his hand on the bed. Svala tied the bandages again and gently smoothed them out.

"A few other people had some bad burns, but otherwise everyone is fine. They all left this afternoon soon after the incident. A dozen houses are burnt or singed but still standing. Apparently you fared the worst out of everyone, and from what I hear, you rushed right into it, confronting that Nightmare head on," Svala said as she started unwrapping Hiccup's arm. He raised his eyebrows, looking at Astrid as she eyed him as if saying, 'you are an unbelievable fool'. "But you got that Nightmare down swiftly enough. No one still knows what caused that dragon to go crazy," Svala said but neither really heard her, both of them locked in a stare-off.

Hiccup's eyes were half lidded as he crookedly smirked, his head wrap screwing up his bangs enough so that he looked stupidly cute—at least Astrid thought so, but she wouldn't admit it. "Are you proud of me?" he asked a little deliriously, his sight going in and out of focus.

Astrid softened and relented her gaze enough so that she could smile, grasping his hand tightly. "You're a completely stubborn moron and you scared me half to death for taking on a flaming, undomesticated Nightmare, but yes, I am proud of you. You did a good job for getting yourself so beat up."

Hiccup chuckled lightly before his eyes fluttered closed, contentedly letting himself fall into a drug-induced sleep with Astrid's warm hand reassuring him.

00

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><p><strong>Anonymous: <strong>

**Adam: Oh, she will no worries! Not for a little while, but in time she will have no qualms with it :) **


	18. Chapter 17

I have no excuses except that school sucks, boys suck, work sucks, and my life is full of too much fun. Really, this senior year has been great. I've been too busy with life to get to writing or drawing anything useful or substantial, and I'm really, actually trying to get my shit together. I know I've probably kept you guys on the edge of your seats for awhile (lol not really, I'm sure) but I apologize for my absence. I'm also sure some of you want to go ham on flaming me and I'm saying go for it because I would be mad too! Especially since so many of you love this story so far (AND I LOVE YOU TOO) and I really appreciate all your reviews and lovely words. And I always will. :)

**DISCLAIMER: Here is where I bend history in a bunch of different ways that I'm sure are not accurate. I've done my research and to keep the timeline of HTTYD ambiguous, I've decided to _keep out_ a set date in history. However, I've done my best to keep it within a range so it would make sense (and because I'm a freak for history) but I've also used certain elements to add to this story. To keep this story in THE Viking Age, I decided to set dates between 850-1000 AD. Big difference, I know, but I didn't want to add too much reality to this fantasy, animated children's movie. lol. So stick with me. And let me know if you have any questions, or I'm sure Wikipedia could answer them for you better than I can.  
><strong>

This chapter will be the deciding factor on whether you guys truly hate me or not for what I am doing. omg.

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><p>00<p>

Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Seventeen

00

Hiccup was released from Svala's care two days later on the promise that Astrid would take care of him, taking some of the remedies and poultices with her to apply twice a day. This was also her idea of an excuse to be able to go his house and see him and for him to come with her places and just generally be together more often since that had been lacking.

Hiccup's left forearm was mottled with burn marks but the wounds would heal without scarring. His left temple still had bruising and cuts from the Nightmare's wing and that was healing nicely, but the claw marks on his torso would certainly scar and were taking a bit longer to heal decently. He couldn't do much work in the forge since his stomach muscles ached like no other, so Gobber took his place until he was healed again. Astrid took good care of him, going to his house where he was sketching, in the forge where he was doing the same thing, or going to wherever he happened to be to do her duty and clean his wound and apply more of the smelly poultice and give him clean bandages.

After doing her promised job while in his room, Astrid kissed him lightly on the lips and his cheek before smiling. "Come with me to the market, will you? You should get out of the house," she kept her face close to his, her arm slung over his shoulder and her fingers walking across his bare shoulder blades teasingly.

"Mmm...," Hiccup said in a way that sounded like he was still deciding. Astrid raised a challenging brow. "One more kiss," she laughed before doing what he asked without haste.

It was a beautiful day outside, the sun slowly rising in the sky as late morning passed and Berk became busier before the sun came to its peak in the hottest part of the day. Astrid brought a basket with her to buy some things her mother wanted her to pick up, casually strolling the stands with Hiccup close by her side. After Ingrid announced to them of arranging their marriage contract-that was more than likely going to turn into engagement-Hiccup and Astrid gave up trying to hide their relationship. He would openly kiss her cheek and she would hold his hand in public without fear and they didn't care when rumors of them actually _being_ engaged floated around because it was bound to happen anyway.

Currently, Hiccup rested his hand on her lower back as they stood at the apple vendor, gazing at all the different colored apples and commenting on them. Hiccup bought one of each color and kept them for later so they could try each one and figure out if they tasted different by what color it was.

"The green ones are more sour, I know that," Astrid said as she shifted through heads of cabbage, finding the best one of the bunch.

"The dark red ones are weird tasting. Kind of old-ish," Hiccup noted, looking and examining said-apple.

"Old-ish? How can you use that to describe a flavor?" She asked, buying one head and moving on to the carrots a couple of carts down.

"I don't know, but it'll make sense once you take a bite," Hiccup said and sank his teeth into the apple, chewing and holding it out for her to bite into.

"Ohh. Okay. But it's almost sweet," she said through chewing, buying a dozen carrots and putting them into the basket she was carrying.

Hiccup paused, furrowing his eyebrows while Astrid walked ahead of him without knowing he had stopped. He stood in the middle of the market, staring pointedly in one direction. Astrid turned around when she didn't see him beside her and saw him looking like a hound, his arm full of six apples and another one in his other hand. "What're you looking at?" Astrid came up to him and stood next to him, following his line of sight to where he was looking out, down the road, to the ocean. "Hiccup?" she said his name when he didn't respond, his green eyes squinting critically.

He wiped his mouth with the outside of his hand, realizing that she was speaking to him next to her. "There are ships coming in," he said in a low voice, being careful not to point too blatantly to cause attention.

"They could be ships coming in from fishing," Astrid said with a shrug, seeing the tiny dots off in the far distance.

"No, ours would be coming directly from the east, these are coming south-southeast," Hiccup said, his jaw jutting out in a certain way that Astrid recognized as his Thinking Deeply Face. He would often get that look when he was wrapped in the throes of drawing things, too concerned with the sheet of paper and oblivious to the things going on around him.

"Soo... what are you saying?" Astrid asked, her voice raising in a suspicious tone.

He was slow to reply again. "They're ships that aren't ours," By 'ours' he meant anyone associated with the Hooligans, Meatheads and their brethren on the mainland and Astrid knew this. These ships were entirely foreign to them and therefore to be taken cautiously.

Hiccup dumped his apples into Astrid's basket and said he would be back quickly, more or less jogging out of the market place. Astrid hardly heard him, saying 'okay' before he went off. She walked down the street towards the bay where some people had already started gathering to gaze out at the quickly-approaching ships. She found Ruffnut standing among the people, holding her own basket full of laundry and other things, her brows knitted together curiously. Astrid stood next to her as men from the docks wheeled up barrows of fish and goods raided from far lands. Fleetingly, Astrid thought, _maybe they've come to raid back_, and a cold feeling wrapped around her heart. She had a sudden urge to run back to her house and grab her axe.

The ships who were swiftly and obviously sailing in Berk's direction had sails that Astrid couldn't recognize. The sails were white with a yellow shield decorated with what looked like blue stretched out cats with their claws drawn (12). She had never seen or heard of the designs on the sails, and even some of the men coming up from the docks had anxious looks on their faces as they whispered about them. The head ship that was leading raised a white flag on the mast and all their worries were put to rest. They were not coming to attack. Astrid shook her head, realizing that it would have been a dumb idea to anyway because it would be near impossible for them to successfully go up all the ramps leading up the cliff side.

It was a good ten minutes before the ships had docked, and by then there were groups of men down at the docks in _case _foreigners had decided to fool them and attack-but no one would be fooled. Stoick was down at the docks waiting and had asked a group of men to hide on top of the cliffs with weapons and long bows for safety precautions. The leader of the ships stepped off board and form Astrid's view, she could only make out that he was much smaller than Stoick (like mostly everyone outside of the Norse archipelago), had dark hair and was wearing a white and blue tunic with shining chainmail underneath.

"I wonder who they are," Ruffnut said with hints of curiosity to Astrid, one among the many whispers around them. Below, it was only the leader and two men who had stepped off with them and carried only their swords at their sides while the rest of the crew on the ships stayed on board. Some words were passed between Stoick and the captain and they shook hands and then Stoick started leading him up the ramps. Hiccup appeared next to Astrid at the end of the line of suspicious villagers where the ramps began, looking a bit less concerned than he was fifteen minutes ago.

"Their ships are nearly as fast as ours," he said to Astrid with his arms casually folded across his broad chest. Astrid nodded as a gust of wind made her knee-length dress shudder around her legs and tossed her long hair over her shoulder.

"That guy can obviously speak our language, soooo, I wonder... have we met him before?" Ruffnut asked, looking across Astrid to Hiccup, and a few other eavesdropping villagers turned their heads to see what Hiccup would say as they wondered the same thing. He was the only one out of anybody on Berk who had travelled extensively south and he was the chief's son in training to be chief, so it would be natural for people to look at him for answers.

However, Hiccup only shrugged. He had never seen the crest on the sails ever before in his life. "I have no idea. We'll just have to find out who they are."

The men Stoick kept in secret on top of the cliff were shooed away by Spitelout before the chief and the captain came up into view. A couple of yards away, Astrid could see the captain was young. So young in fact, he looked barely ten years older than Hiccup. He was tall and lean with dark, viciously wavy hair pulled into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck with haphazard, sea-swept bangs across his pale forehead. He had bright blue eyes (or so she thought from the distance she was at) set underneath thick black brows. On the left side of his face was a long brownish scar from just above his eyebrow all the way down to his jaw, and, Astrid wasn't quite sure, but she also believed she could see another scar from in between his brows that veered off onto the left side of the bridge of his nose, ending just at the bottom of his eye socket. His hair covered up most of his scars. On the front of his knee-length tunic was the same crest on the sails, possibly meaning he was some sort of ambassador to whatever place he was from. He had detailed chainmail for sleeves and a hood, his leather cap off to dangle behind his neck. He had leather bracers and metal-plated shins over his dusty but fine leather boots.

He didn't look much different than anyone else on the island but there was just a foreign air about him that Astrid or Ruffnut-or anybody, for that matter-had never truly felt before. It was almost apprehensive and anxious and curious.

As the captain came up the ramps, Astrid could see he almost did a double-take in her general direction. She set down her basket as the wicker was digging into her hip, but she furrowed her brows and continued to watch him as he approached, finding out that he wasn't looking at _her_, he was looked at Ruffnut. He looked intrigued, interested, _besotted_. "Hey, Ruff, he's looking at you," Astrid whispered to her, smirking. No way. This was not happening. This foreigner dude was staring at Ruffnut as he obviously approached them, veering off Stoick's path completely. "He's coming towards you, Ruff," Astrid said with hints of excitement in her voice, throwing Ruffnut off-guard.

"No, he's no. Oh, gods, he is," Ruffnut gripped nervously onto Astrid's arm, her basket at her feet, turning tomato red. Astrid could only snort and giggle at her reaction, the other surrounding villagers elbowing each other and snickering, watching the impending action to take place.

But, the captain did a very odd thing when he stood in front of Ruffnut (and Astrid, as they looked almost connected). Instead of simply introducing himself or saying something charmingly stupid as any other Berkian would have done, he _bowed_. In a flourish, with his arm out. Ruffnut's eyes were wide as he took her hand that had been in a fist in front of her, now lax in his gloved hand, bringing it up with him as he stood to kiss her knuckles.

"_Hallo, _milady," he said in Norse but laced with some sort of accent against her skin, grinning wolfishly. He let her hand go and followed Stoick, the chief's eyes wide in disbelief and almost laughing to himself, leaving the stunned crowd with a special smile the captain tossed over his shoulder to Ruffnut. Hiccup followed his father and the other important council members, leaving Astrid nearly joined to Ruffnut. As soon as the foreign men and council members were out of sight, Astrid burst out laughing along with most of the other people who had just previously been curious and now were laughing in complete bewilderment.

"Oh, gods!" Ruffnut shouted with an even more red face, covering it with her hands as villagers clapped the most unlikely girl on the shoulders and dispersed. "What just happened? Astrid, what just happened? I don't even know!" Ruffnut looked almost horrified, staring at her hand like it had been detached from her arm, but there were hints of a smile on her face.

Astrid shrugged. "He looked like a knight. And he totally just flirted with you big time."

"I know! I can't believe it!" Now, she looked excited, a totally different expression on her face though her face was still red. "A knight... we've only ever seen one once forever ago when people from the mainland came by. Dude... could he be a knight?" Astrid made an 'I don't know' noise. "Did you see that scar on his face?" Astrid nodded. "That looked so cool! I want to meet him. I want to know where he's from."

"Whoa, there, Ruff. Two seconds ago, you looked like you were about to run away, and now you want to chase him?" With her arm free of Ruffnut's death grip, she picked up her basket and started walking back toward the market.

"No, not even. But he just totally pulled that knight move with the weird hand-kissing, but, dude. He looked so. cool," Ruffnut picked up her own basket and started walking with Astrid to the market. Astrid rolled her eyes and laughed, preparing herself for a long barrage of rants concerning Mr. Foreign Knight guy.

00

Later at night, Hiccup climbed up through Astrid's window once the very, very, very long meeting with the foreigners was over with. Hiccup had sat in Mead Hall listening to his father and the captain-ambassador talk since early afternoon until around eleven at night. Since his father didn't leave with him, Hiccup just walked right to Astrid's house and threw exactly two pebbles at her window before she welcomed him up.

He laid perpendicular on her bed with his arms stretched out wide and his eyes closed in exhaustion. It was a mentally trying day with keeping up along with his father and the rest of the intensely interested and active council. Hiccup sighed when Astrid ran her hand through his hair, scratching her nails gently on his scalp, sending pleasant shivers down his spine. They were quiet for awhile and Astrid didn't pester him about what he sat in on all day though she was dying to know. She knew Hiccup would tell her otherwise he wouldn't have climbed up through her window.

After fifteen minutes of playing with his hair and rubbing a tense spot between his neck and shoulder, she was _dying_ to know and she didn't want to wait any longer. "So what happened after you go to the Hall? Who were those people? Where are they from?"

Hiccup fluttered his eyes open and yawned, forcibly pulling himself up to sit against the post of her footboard on her bed. Astrid still laid on her stomach holding her chin in her palms with her elbows in her mattress, looking expectantly at him. "They're Danish. Their leader's name is Søren and he's a duke-general from Denmark but he's been fighting in the Danelaw in England, " Hiccup explained slowly, looking clearly tired.

"_Aenglaland_," Astrid re-pronounced, finding the word familiar but she couldn't put a place to it. She's heard of it's use before, remembering Hiccup using it when he was explaining his two-year trip to her.

Hiccup nodded and looked at the tight and highly sensitive parts of his burned skin that were starting to peel and he had to resist the urge to pick at them. He started fingering the hem of his tunic instead, also resisting itching his wound. "Well, we've-meaning us and our allies and stuff-have been raiding along the east coast of England and Søren was sent to pretty much make sure we don't raid the Danish land holds. He's in control of portions of the Danelaw along the coast so his king sent him to Berk because we're one of the last outposts of the mainland, along with the Meatheads, but we can't really go any farther on this treaty-thing until the Meathead council comes, so it'll be a few days. My dad and the chief of the Meatheads pretty much have to okay Søren's treaty idea before he goes to the mainland to make it final. It's crazy," Hiccup brought a hand to his cheek and groaned. "And apparently our two island's ambassador is already gone _on _the mainland so it'll be a little longer until the Danes leave to finish this stupid treaty. Ugh."

Astrid paused, taking in for a moment what he said. "Kollr. He's Aislin's husband," she said in a light, cold tone, giving off the impression that this topic was done and over with.

Hiccup pursed his lips, turning over his left hand. On the outside of his wrist was a patch of burned skin that itched like no other so he gave in to the temptation and scratched at it. Without saying anything and moving soundlessly, Astrid gently took his hands so he wouldn't pick off the thin scabs. Hiccup looked up at her suddenness and saw that her eyes looked a little fearful, not from his itching but it was as if she didn't know she looked scared. Mixed in with her frightened mouse look he could see sadness shining through and it disheartened him to see it. She was still sad at just the mentioning of Aislin. It must still be constantly on her mind though she had hid it quite well from him, and he was a little upset at that too but he understood because he would have done the same thing. And he still is; his journals still haunt him though he tries hard to forget, but ultimately neither of them can forget. They just have to learn to live with it.

Hiccup pulled Astrid into a tight hug when her eyes started watering, running a hand over her hair, holding her head just beneath his chin so her head laid comfortably on his chest. She cried into him, soaking his tunic with her tears and he kissed her hair, rubbing her back. His heart ached, his eyes stung. He wanted to cry too. But he couldn't. He had cried too much over pointless things and not enough over the things that mattered and he didn't want to anymore, but he still couldn't cry-this was one of those important things. He had to be strong for her, help her fix this, otherwise he didn't know what they would come to.

Hiccup shut his eyes tightly. He so wanted this dark spell to pass. He wanted to be happy again, running naked through the woods, waking up from a hangover at the waterhole, going skinny dipping. And all those times were with Astrid, he realized with a start. She was with him at his happiest moments and now he was here with her at her saddest. It was an ugly, beautiful thing, that mutual whatever-it-was. He would always be there for her and she would be there for him.

Hiccup hugged her tighter and let himself go. A single tear squeezed itself out and hung onto his eyelashes until it slid down his cheek, soaking into her yellow hair.

00

Early in the morning before the sun rose, Hiccup climbed out of Astrid's window before anyone else had stirred in the house. He was not about to get yelled at by Arnheim, or even Ingrid, which may have been scarier. In any case, he didn't want to ruin chances to marrying Astrid simply because they had slept in the same bed. They didn't even do anything; after he pulled her into a hug they both checked out for the night. He was just there to comfort her so she could fall asleep, but he ended up sleeping as well. He was awfully glad he was an early riser.

Instead of going right home, Hiccup made an important detour to the dragon stables. All the dragons were more than happy to see him, licking his face, ruffling his hair, playfully nipping his shoulders. Younger dragons from the previous winter rubbed against his legs, begging him to pet them and they pulled at his pants enough so he knelt and allowed them to lick his face and nibble his nose and ears, eating his hair and making happy chirps and some even yawned.

"Yeah, guys, no kidding," Hiccup said while he was yawning, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "It's an early morning, yes, so you little ones should get back to bed. Come on, now, go," he started shuffling the 'children' dragons to their respective pens with their parents, tripping over some because they didn't want to go. "Ooh-I'm sorry! Oh, geez, I stepped on your foot, didn't I? Oh, man," Hiccup apologized profusely, scratching the pained Gronkle's nose with extra fervor. "Alright, alright, go to bed. It's too early. Ugh. Okay. Who am I kidding," Hiccup wiped his face and let some of the dragons follow him down the stables to the far back corner. The Nightmare that had gone berserk was currently still tied up here with a band of leather over its mouth in between its complicated row of teeth, a chain binding it to a nearby post holding up the roof.

Hiccup had not gone to see the dragon yet, giving him a few days before approaching. He walked up to the Nightmare without fear but he made his steps cautious so he would not alarm the dragon, trying to smile reassuringly. The Nightmare lifted his head from the hay-strewn ground, watching Hiccup walk up to him. When Hiccup reached to pull off the leather strip, he jerked his head away and his eyes narrowed into slits. Hiccup sighed.

"Okay, then," he pulled up a short nearby stool to sit directly in front of the dragon. He sat down and put his elbows on his knees after wincing from a pain in his side where the dragon had scratched him, and looked the Nightmare directly in the eye as a show of respect. "I think you're one of the new dragons here. Your coloring is different than other Nightmares and your horns are shorter. You're from the south, aren't you?"

The Nightmare stared back. Good.

"Well, you're certainly welcome here, only on the conditions that you behave yourself and don't harm the other dragons, people, sheep, houses and aren't greedy with the fish. You'll enjoy it here, I know. It's better than being alone because you Nightmares can be solitary but you like showing off and socializing. You can get a human to bond with and they'll take care of you... you can have the coolest flights of your life... maybe even have a girlfriend," Hiccup winked and the Nightmare rolled his eyes and set his head back down on the hay, adjusting his folded wings.

Hiccup laughed. "Oh, come on, you know it sounds appealing. Having your own lady friend. Trust e, it's awesome. You can fall in love and have your own Nightmare babies-all on Berk! There's plenty of Nightmare females waiting for a cool, exotic new Nightmare like you to jump their bones," Hiccup burst out laughing again when the Nightmare made a grumbling sigh in the depths of his throat. "I hope you know I'm teasing and that I talk a lot to get dragons accustomed and comfortable, so you're going to have to bear it, buddy, seeing as that you can't fly anywhere," Hiccup nudged the chain on the ground, catching the dragon's attention again. "And, after a little while, I may just let you out. Give you an extra half basket of fish or two if you don't cause any trouble, and then I can show you the cool places around the island if you're nice. Toothless may knock you into shape too as I'll have him monitor you.

"Now, Toothless... he isn't as nice as I am, but he can be if you don't threaten to ruin stuff. He's awesome. He's my best friend, he helped me, changed my world-and this world-completely. Nightfuries and Nightmares get along pretty well so don't worry about that because I know you totally are," the Nightmare's eyes shut and he made the grumbling noise again. "Ah, well, you're exciting," Hiccup said sarcastically with an unamused expression. "As you probably already know, most of the dragons on the island live here in the stables, unless families have enough room in the house or a barn to keep their dragons, who are usually considered family members or best friends like Toothless is to me...,"

Hiccup talked to the Nightmare for a good, long while, touching on nearly every subject he could think of; to different dragons and their owners, what fish he thought was going to be the new Nightmare's favorite, what girl dragon would be best for him and now she had 'lovely eyes', to new inventions and how he can't get this project right, and he asked the Nightmare where he came from but he didn't get much of a response. Of course dragons can't _talk_ but Hiccup was always able to communicate back, even the dragons he met on his travels. "You're very untalkative. I could bring in some other dragons so you can talk to them if you don't want to talk to me," Hiccup said somewhere during the long one-sided conversation and the Nightmare gave him a glare back, meaning 'don't you dare'. "Okay, okay, I was only offering," he held up his hands and asked him a few more questions, like what his small pack was like, why he came to Berk, what his preference on wood texture and appearance was, even what 'cool flying move' the Nightmare liked best. All Hiccup got back in response were apathetic or leave-me-alone glares or sighs or eye-rolling.

Hiccup sat on the stool with his hands between his knees and his eyes narrowed, his jaw characteristically jutting out as he thought. This was an awfully tough dragon to get through to, not to mention moody and slightly boring. Hiccup felt like he was literally talking to a wall. Well, he supposed all dragons were different in their own way, but never has one been so _unresponsive_. Dragons loved talking-or _communicating_-and sometimes Hiccup could never get one to shut up. So what was this Nightmares deal? Was he trying to tell him something or to make a point? It was really irking.

"Alright, buddy, if you're going to not talk, so be it. It's your choice," Hiccup shrugged. He could hear some villagers coming into the stables, talking, saddling up their dragons for the day or dumping over baskets of fish. Hiccup got up and went just outside the stables to the cellar where a ton of fish baskets were stored, both for the dragons and the village. He brought up one basket for the Nightmare in the corner, but set it a distance away from him. The only reason the Nightmare didn't lunge at it was because Hiccup walked right up to him.

"Now," Hiccup started sternly. "you, my friend, gave me some pretty nasty wounds. I scared my girlfriend half to death because of you and I don't forget easily. And she doesn't forgive often," Hiccup knelt in front of the Nightmare, talking in a voice that reminded him of a parent dealing with their child, or how his dad used to talk to him. He had dealt with unruly dragons before who might as well have been children, so he felt he could handle this well enough. "I'm going to take off your jaw bind. If you so much as to try to bite me, I won't be so hesitant to take this fish basket away and keep you unfed for another three days. Do you hear me?" Hiccup had asked that no one feed him since his 'imprisonment' only because dragon's food needs were not nearly as restricted as humans; three days without food was like a day without food for people. Hiccup waddled a finger and the Nightmare's golden eyes narrowed just a bit as he seemed to consider Hiccup's deal.

Hiccup raised his hands to the Nightmare's mouth and this time he didn't jerk away. Hiccup loosened the strap slowly, his eyes locked on the Nightmare's to foresee any other rapid movements, using his peripheral vision to keep check on the wings. Once the strap was loose enough so the Nightmare was able to open his mouth, Hiccup was pleased to see that he didn't attempt anything.

"Good," Hiccup didn't smile yet. He stood up and walked back a few paces to where he left the basket, keeping his eyes on him. Hiccup nudged the basket closer with his foot and the Nightmare still did not move for it thought he kept looking to the fish basket with hungry eyes. "There," he knocked the basket over and when the fish spilled out the Nightmare lunged for them, nearly inhaling the whole basket.

Now Hiccup smiled. "Good job, buddy. See, you get the best fish around if you're good," he waited about a minute until the Nightmare was finished. "However, you have to keep this on," Hiccup held up the leather bind. "Maybe in a few days if you prove yourself to be a tamed dragon, you can keep it off, but I'm not going to risk a little kid getting their arm bitten off," Hiccup knelt in front of the Nightmare again, holding up the jaw strap. "Close your mouth. Ow, you poked me with your tooth, pal. You think you're funny, don't you?" he could see the dragon was almost smirking as he wrapped the strap around his nose and tightened it. "Ha ha."

Hiccup stood up and brushed himself off from hay that managed to stick to his pants though the only part of him that ever touched the floor were his feet. He picked up the basket and watched the nameless Nightmare settle in more comfortably into his pile of hay, eyeing Hiccup as if saying, 'oh yeah, I'm hilarious'. Hiccup chuckled and shouldered the basket. "I'll be back tonight, probably. While I'm gone, you should think up some answers to my questions because I'm about to have more," he started walking out of the stall and just before he was about to step out, he heard a huff of air like the dragon was amused. Hiccup left the stables feeling very accomplished with his newly obtained standing ground with the Nightmare. Victory.

00

Mid-morning on Lagardagur, there was a huge chorus of knocks on Hiccup's front door. He had been eating some bread with strawberry jam for breakfast, working up the motivation to gather up all his clothes, when the knocking made him almost choke to death, his bite literally just swallowed. He coughed violently and stumbled to the door, trying to talk and gain his composure at the same time.

"Hold-on! I'm-I'm coming!" _hack hack. _He half-expected it to be Spitelout or someone of more or equal body mass by the way the door seemed to shake on the hinges. "Odin almighty," he whispered once he was able to breathe again, pulling the door open. Instead, who stepped inside was someone much smaller, someone with twice the temper and twice the ferocity. Astrid nearly pushed Hiccup back when she flew inside, breezing right past him with an empty basket and her mind clearly set on something.

"Whoa," Hiccup said airily with the door still open, surprised it was her who was knocking.

"I need your laundry. It's Lagardagur and your need your laundry done. Terribly," Astrid said without hesitation, then reached inside her basket and pulled out a tunic and a pair of trousers. "Change into these and give me the clothes you're wearing," she tossed them to Hiccup as soon as he shut the door, stunned completely into silence.

He held the clothes in his hands, utterly confused. "Whose are these?" he asked slowly, furrowing his brows.

"They're Brandan's. Come on, hurry up. I need you to get your dad's, too. My mom said she would do his," Astrid held up the basket on one hip with her arm, her hand impatiently on her other hip, looking incredibly keen.

"I'm not wearing Brandan's clothes!"

"Yes, you are! Hiccup, you need your laundry done. It's getting gross," she walked right up to him and for a second he thought she was going to punch him, but instead she pointed to a dark mark on his tunic on his chest. "That's from two weeks ago, Hiccup. I saw that happen. Come on, take your clothes off, I don't have all day," Astrid's voice started to get laced with anger so Hiccup rolled his eyes and complied and did what he was told. He handed her his clothes once he changed and then put his hands on his hips, feeling totally awkward in Brandan's clothes. But he really hoped Astrid couldn't see that.

She looked at him in a certain way that made him feel childish. "Go get your dad's clothes. I'm going to get yours," Astrid turned around and started walking to the stairs.

"Why?" Hiccup asked, making Astrid pause and turn around. _Oh, bad choice, Hiccup. You just shouldn't have said anything, you idiot. _

"I already told you. Your laundry is gross and dirty. And your dad doesn't do his, either," she said curtly. Just looking at him, Astrid knew he wasn't going to do it for some stupid guy reason because he wanted to act like he didn't need his laundry done by her. Oh, but he was going to do it, by Thor, or she'll have his head on a spike. She looked at him like she was going to do it, never looking away for a second.

Hiccup shifted from foot to peg, feeling his resistance instantly crumble. "I'll go do it," he said under his breath, lowering his head in defeat and nearly running up the stairs. Hiccup wouldn't realize this for a good year or two later, but in that moment, he caught a glimpse of his future wife, running the household by her rules. Funny, that.

Astrid smiled, liking this power over him. She could work with this.

Astrid gathered up all of Hiccup's clothes in the basket she brought and made Hiccup carry a basket full of Stoick's clothes to her house where he dropped them off. Hiccup walked back to his house mumbling things about women and 'attitudes'. Astrid couldn't help but laugh. Before doing laundry on most Laugardagur's-except for quite recently-Astrid and Ruffnut would meet at the hot springs and take baths together. But since everyone takes baths at the same hot spring location, the two girls usually went to a much smaller spring that only the other girls of the village knew about. It was actually Astrid who found it after being constantly spied on by other boys and chasing them half-naked to punch them (which she did so quite successfully). So it was a 'girls only' spring and everyone sworn to secrecy to never tell a single boy about it.

Astrid gathered up her strawberry soap and comb and a couple of sheets to meet Ruffnut at the spring, and she was actually very excited. Though she would not tell a soul, she missed the last _two_ Lagardagur's though she's only ever missed one in her entire life. Astrid grew up with dirty boys and habits that she picked up on from their generally unclean village, but she was all about bathing and squeaky-clean-ness. She didn't like being dirty for long. Sure, it felt awesome to roll around in some dirt with smears all over her face, but after a while it got gross. And after three weeks without a bath and caking on as much rosewater as possible without swimming in it, she desperately was needing a good and long soak and everyone knew it. Thor almighty, she almost skipped to the spring.

Ruffnut was already unchanging when she got there, and to her surprise, it was only them. "No one's here? Huh," Astrid said, throwing her things to the ground and nearly pulling off her tunic.

"Yeah, which is awesome because I have to talk to you about stuff," Ruffnut said, naked and wading into the water, her long hair loose and wavy down her pale back. Bathing with women her whole life, from _all_ ages, Astrid was really unfazed by naked women. It was basically like looking at herself, so she didn't feel self-conscious at all when getting stark naked to bathe with other girls.

Astrid waded in quickly because if she could have jumped into the shallow water, she would have, but evidently she probably would have killed herself. The water was only up to her waist when standing, but since there were some boulders to sit on underneath the water surface, the water went only up to her breasts. Astrid immediately dunked her head in, reveling in the hot, geothermal water.

"This feels awesome!" Astrid shouted when she surfaced, sighing contentedly, sinking herself neck deep to envelope her whole body. Ruffnut also got her hair wet and swam around for a bit, sitting underwater and relaxing. Astrid swam up to the edge of the pool after fifteen minutes or so and grabbed her strawberry scented soap as Ruffnut got her rosemary scented one, and they waded into the center again to hold their 'hot springs conversation'.

"So what stuff did you want to talk about?" Astrid asked as she rubbed her soap into her hair vigorously, working up a thick lather.

"Søren," Ruffnut said simply, also working soap into her hair. She sighed, staring off into the trees with a weird, lazy smile on her face. Astrid furrowed her brows, finding Ruffnut's expression peculiar. "He's been giving me letters. Well-,"

"What!" Astrid burst, bewildered. She paused scrubbing at her hair but kept her hands on her head, her eyes wide open. "Ruffnut!"

"What? He can give me all the letters he wants. I actually like them. I had a hard time reading his first one because he writes terribly in our language, so I had to go up and ask him what it said," Ruffnut laughed loudly and Astrid would have too if she wasn't so stunned. "But he's very... _nice_. That feels weird to say, but... yeah. Did you know he's twenty-three years old-and he's a knight? A knight! For the Danes! An actual knight. Do you know how cool that is?"

While Ruffnut was talking, Astrid had paused scrubbing her hair again but started up once she replied. "I guess. I don't know anything about being a knight."

Ruffnut, now with her hair piled on top of her head, saturated with soap, seemed to blush a little more red. "I asked him about it and he said he had to go through some knighthood training but because he was the son of some duke of some part of Denmark, who was good friends with the king, he pretty much got right in. But he's a master swordsman. His sword is so cool and it's shinier than the ones we have here. He says its steel or something. He has to wear the crest of the Danelaw all the time. And his chainmail!" Ruffnut explained while examining her bar of soap and watching it float in the water. Astrid listened, letting her hair also sit on her head while she used her soap to wash her body.

"Søren says he's never been this far north before and he told me he's surprised by how much bigger we are here-not fat, but taller, more muscular. He says he's tall back in the other lands but here he's nearly two feet shorter than everyone else. I also showed him Zip and Zap and he nearly peed his pants," Ruffnut cackled and washed her arms. "The dragons are also bigger here, he says, but we knew that already because of Hiccup. But, he owns a Terror named Mikail. He didn't get to name him because his sister gave it to him-,"

"Ruffnut?" Astrid interrupted gracefully without being too terribly rude, holding her bar of soap delicately in her hand while she thought of how to say what she wanted to. "Have you been hanging out often?" she laughed nervously, knowing it was a dumb thing to ask.

"Yeah. I had to explain to him today what Lagardagur was because he didn't know. They don't bathe often-," Ruffnut was about to go on another tangent but Astrid raised her hand to stop her.

"Does Fishlegs know? Because aren't you guys... kind of... going out?" Astrid asked awkwardly, brushing dripping soap from off her cheek.

Ruffnut looked at her while she thought, absorbing what she said because the question caught her on surprise. "Uhm...," she started after almost a minute, looking away to the milky-blue water. "No... he doesn't know. He's been busy with catching fish because his dad gave him a boat. But it wasn't really official; he never asked me. It just kind of happened," Ruffnut said and dipped her head back just so her face was above the surface and her hair under, washing the soap out as Astrid did the same.

Once they sat up, their hair snarly but clean, Astrid asked, "So... about you and Søren...,"

Ruffnut's eyes widened. "Oh, gods, we're only friends. I don't like him that way, it's only been, like, two days. Why would you say that?" Ruffnut wasn't offended and Astrid knew that only because she was her best friend, otherwise any other girl would be put off.

"Because he kind of kissed your hand you were hysterical about it," Astrid said, wading over and grabbing a smooth but slightly coarse rock form it's designated place on top of a boulder on the edge of the pool. She handed it to Ruffnut and turned around so she could rub her back for her.

"It's his knight's chivalry code. He's supposed to be 'chivalrous', whatever that means," Ruffnut said with a deep voice for emphasis, rubbing Astrid's back gently with the stone. "But what about you and Hiccup? People are saying you guys are engaged. My mom was nearly pulling her hair out because she couldn't think of a wedding present or you. Are you?" Ruffnut was suddenly excited toward the end, her voice dripping with it.

"Kind of. It's not official, but it pretty much is. All they have to do is decide on a dowry, but all my dad can come up with are ships and money, but the chief doesn't really need either. So they're stuck-for all I know," Astrid shrugged, tugging at the ends of her hair with her comb.

"No way! Odin's beard, Astrid! That is so crazy! You're going to marry _Hiccup_! Gods, three years ago you would have barfed and jumped off the cliff!" Ruffnut shouted with exuberance, throwing her arms in the air while still holding the rock. She did it so many times that Astrid had to tell her to keep scrubbing. "You're getting _married_, Ast. Married. I never thought you were going to be the first out of all of us. Well, you _and_ Hiccup. Geez... that is so weird."

"Yeah... you're telling me," Astrid said quietly, hardly noticing she had stopped combing her hair, or that Ruffnut was talking to her.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"You're coming to my brother's wedding tomorrow, right? He was asking about you being there."

She had been so out of it, Astrid said in such surprise, "Tuffnut?"

Ruffnut burst out laughing so hard she fell off the boulder she was sitting on, clutching her stomach tightly. "No, you idiot! He would be the _last_ one to get married! It's Oddr, He's marrying Birna? The milkmaid? Remember?" Ruffnut shook her head and continued gently scrubbing the stone in circles around on Astrid's back.

"Oh, yeah," Astrid blushed; gods she knew he was getting married! She knew that at the beginning of summer! _I'm so stupid! I knew it wouldn't be Duff... ugh. _

"Yeah, well, are you coming?" Ruffnut chuckled.

"Yes!" Astrid snapped, though she didn't mean it, she was just embarrassed.

And soon it would be her wedding, too.

00

(12) Currently, the Danish coat of arms has 3 blue lions on a gold background with hearts underneath a big crown. Because I couldn't find a Danelaw coat of arms in the 11th century, I'm compromising here with a more basic version of the current Danish coat of arms. Here, I've described Søren's crest and the sails on the ships to have a white background with 3 blue lions ('cats' as Astrid calls them, because she obviously has never seen an lion) in a basic shield shape.

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><p><strong>Anonymous: <strong>

**Queen NC: Thank you! I'm glad you like the use of Norse mythology in this story, and there's a ton of it! I love anything to do with religious studies (possibly one of my minors in college, I'm not sure) but I enjoy it thoroughly, so I like using it as much as I can! And yes, I realize that I had many verbiage mistakes but I'm trying better and I'm thoroughly editing them now, lol. **

**Bkil: Did it develop well enough? ;) **

**Adam: Thanks, dude! ****And nah, the Nightmare is just a bastard, as shown :) hahaha. **

**heywhatsup: Thanks! :D**


	19. Chapter 18

Definitely one of the shorter chapters.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Eighteen

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It really started to sink in.

The whole marriage thing.

Astrid sat in front of her vanity, looking rather dressed up for only a wedding occasion, but only because she needed something to keep her mind off things. She had already worked at Hallbera's for most of the day, thrown her axe, cleaned her room top to bottom, so as she was waiting for Hiccup to come by and take her to the field for Oddr and Birna's wedding ceremony, she took extra time to look nice. She wore a deep red, loose and flowing dress with white swirls and vines with small birds integrated into the design along the front, her nice leather belt with a gold foil buckle and attached an accent charm on her right side. She borrowed Auda's hair clip with red stones on them that looked like rubies and used that to pull up her hair along her temple on the left side of her head, pinning it back. She pinched her cheeks ten times and used more than what was necessary of her rosewater, which was on its last few drops.

She was freaking out. Big time.

"Damn it," Astrid looked at her sweaty palms, noticing the small pink dots just beneath each finger and each one seemed to be on fire. She wiped her hands on her skirt and looked in the looking glass again, sighing, hoping she could relax. "No. No, no, no. Oh, gods," Astrid groaned and pressed her hands to her eyes so she saw colorful blotches.

She was going to get married. Married. To Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. In the future. Sometime soon. And she would be bound to him forever until they grew old and died. How long would that be? Thor, she couldn't be married _forever_! She hated him only three years ago! Now, she was going to marry him at seventeen. But, she was old for getting engaged, _so it's about time isn't it?_

"No!" She answered herself, shaking her legs.

Agnes is two years younger than her and she's already getting married—next week, actually, though she and Bjørnstaud were only engaged a week ago. But, apparently, they were betrothed when she was born and he was five. Astrid herself was never betrothed to anyone in particular, and even if she was she probably scared the boys' parents off from a deal because she beat their son too much. Oh, Hel. She knows a fourteen-year-old who just got married yesterday. And another one who was sixteen. _I should have been married years ago! I would rather be betrothed than have to go through this!_

…

_Scratch that. I'd rather marry Hiccup any day than Snotlout or Tuffnut. Ew. _

Okay, so she wasn't off so bad. At least she had a choice in the matter. At least she has _feelings _for him, though she still couldn't quite figure them out, but she knew him and liked him and he was her best friend and she would rather marry him and have his kids, and—_kids_.

"Ohh, gooooods," Astrid groaned and threw her head back. That was a whooole other story.

She heard a knock downstairs and she knew it was Hiccup. Astrid swallowed and removed her hands, looking in the glass one last time to fix her hair. "Astrid, Hiccup's here!" her mother shouted from downstairs. To avoid having him come inside and having to talk to her father, which she was almost positive would make him pee his pants, Astrid jumped up from her stool, making it knock over backwards, blew out her candles and raced down the stairs.

When she got down to the living area, she saw her dads eyes widen from his spot on the bench, his spectacles on the end of his long and straight nose as he read something. "Wha's the occasion?" he asked, meaning her elaborate dress.

"There's a wedding," she curtly replied, knowing full well it didn't matter how nicely she looked for a commoner's wedding. Auda also said something but she chose to disregard it, racing out to the porch where her mother smartly kept Hiccup.

If it was any other night but this night she would have been extremely flattered that Hiccup looked her up and down when she came outside, but tonight she was not. "You look nice," he said in a small, polite voice because her mom was there.

"Thank you. Bye, mom," Astrid took his hand and nearly leaped off the porch.

"Bye, dear! We'll be at the reception later, okay?" Ingrid shouted as Astrid pulled Hiccup down the street.

Hiccup knew something was up. She was walking in that certain way that wasn't normal and she had her mission expression on her face. "Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, pulling on her hand to get her to stop.

Instead, she pulled her hand out and fisted it. "No, I am not okay, Hiccup," she said in a low voice, turning to him but avoided his eyes, looking at his clean tunic that was miraculously one of his nicer ones.

"Then what's wrong? You look… you look…," he had no idea what she looked like, but he'll take stab anyway. "anxious."

Astrid clenched her jaw, shifting from foot to foot, thinking. "Yes! I am anxious! Alright? I am anxious," she did this weird twitching thing with her nose Hiccup hadn't yet seen before but he duly noted it. She raised her hand to bite her nails briefly. "Can we go? The ceremony's probably starting," she turned to leave but Hiccup grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"Astrid—," he started to say, but when she wheeled around, he was not expecting her hand to slap him across the face. The noise was so loud it echoed in the empty streets, and the force was so strong Hiccup's head snapped to the right.

"Don't touch me!" She shouted angrily, but she quickly realized what she had done. Astrid's eyes widened as soon as her hand left his cheek. She could not comprehend what happened—did it? Did she really _just _slap him? She wasn't even thinking. She was so mad that he grabbed her shoulder for just a split second, and then she found herself hitting him. Time had completely stopped.

Hiccup blinked and slowly raised his fingers to his lips, looking down at them. There was a little bit of blood from the inside of his cheek and he was furious. He couldn't believe she had actually _slapped him_. And he didn't even do anything. When he raised his eyes to hers from looking at his fingertips just his gaze made Astrid's blood freeze and her heart stop. She had never seen him look so... angry. Betrayed.

"Oh, gods," she raised her hands to her mouth, horror written all over her face. She took a step back. "Hiccup, I'm so—," She wasn't able to finish her sentence because he swiftly walked past her and stormed down the street. "Hiccup! I'm so sorry!" She stood shocked for a second, surprised at his receding back. Astrid ran after him, shouting, "Hiccup! I'm so, so, soo sorry! I didn't mean to! I—," he never turned around once, just kept going down the road to the center field with his hands clenched tight. She stopped running and instead hung her arms.

"Fuck!" Astrid shouted, raising her hands to her head and clenching her teeth. "Goddamn it, you stupid half-troll, munge bucket, idiot, Astrid!" She kicked some stray toys left on the street by some children and knocked over a few of her neighbor's empty barrels, kicking them down the road. She yelled all the way to the field and mumbled self-insults, giving people unnecessary glares with death threats hidden in them.

The day was only getting worse by the second: the only seat that was open was next to Hiccup, the last place she wanted be. She wasn't going to sit there at first and instead she was just going to opt to stand at the back, but she noticed that he had sat one spot in on the bench so there was deliberately a seat open on the outside. So he intended to leave her a spot even though she _flippin' slapped him_.

She sighed, letting all her anger go. She shouldn't be mad, he should be, and she knew he was. Hiccup had all the right to be angry, furious. He should be raging at her right now, ignoring her; shit, he should just forget her. She stooped so low to hurt him like that. But yet, he saved her a goddamn seat. Great gods almighty, this kid was something else. He had sense, he had a heart—a big one—and he wasn't a fool. Sometimes Astrid wished he was the opposite of those things so she could get her proper treatment, but he wasn't. He was honorable. He was Hiccup.

Quietly, she walked up the aisle with her head bowed and her hair surely screwed up, and she silently sat down next to him though she was nearly off the bench. He didn't say anything, didn't glance in her direction, but she was fine with that. She looked at his knee and wondered how he could be this way throughout the entire ceremony. She dreaded the end of it because she would have to talk to him, which made her anxiety and her Terrible Day feel even worse.

Elder Gothi spoke the vows and Oddr and Birna repeated them, exchanging rings over the family swords and they said a couple more things. Gothi raised her knobby-knuckled hands and said the blessings. Everyone clapped and cheered and both Oddr and Birna grinned as barley oats were flung into the air as they walked down the aisle. People started racing to the Hall for the reception, the sun nearly down now, and Astrid stood up and followed them, keeping her head low. She couldn't bear to look at Hiccup as he walked beside her silently, save for his little hobble and the squeak of his prosthetic, but she couldn't even hear that anymore.

Her throat hurt as she was close to speaking multiple times but found she was too humiliated to talk. She bit her lip and forced it out just before they were about to climb the stairs. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. I don't know what happened, i-it just did! I didn't try to, I didn't want to, my hand just moved on its own a-and—,"

"What's bothering you?" Hiccup interrupted coolly, his expression relaxed but Astrid could tell he was still annoyed.

She stopped talking altogether and stared at him, her mouth open. She let out a great sigh and collapsed down to sit on the stairs, holding her face in her hands. "I can't get married. I'm so scared, Hiccup, I don't know what its like! I've never been married! I don't know what I'm supposed to do, what I'm supposed to say. Shit, I'm scared to have kids, even! After, Aislin, I-I-I… I don't know what to do," she spoke hurriedly, now letting herself look scared instead of anxious. They were alone now as everyone had gone to the Hall to eat and feast and listen to the Chief's toast.

Hiccup stared down at her for a second, trying to comprehend what she said because she spoke so fast, but when it registered in his head, he let out a huff of laughter. He sat down next to her a good couple of inches away. "Is that it? Is that what's been bothering you?" he asked slowly. He spoke kindly but Astrid could see a little bit of hurt in him. Hiccup didn't want her to second-guess the proposal, it seemed.

"Yes, it's been on my mind a lot. I've never been so scared about something that isn't supposed to be bad. And I don't think it will be, just… it just terrifies me, I guess. But… at the same time... I do want to get married, Hiccup. I do. To you. I… would like to… marry you. I would. And I'm going to," Astrid replied sincerely, placing a hand on his knee. "It's just sinking in that it's actually going to happen and it freaks me out. I think I'm okay now, though. I just kind of slapped you," they chuckled together as Astrid hugged her dress around her knees. _Good. _"I'll be okay."

"I understand. I'm a little worried myself because I haven't been married either," he winked at her. "But there's nothing to worry about. I'll… I'll be good to you, Astrid. I'm not your father," Hiccup said gently and looked at her tenderly, pursing his lips.

Astrid smiled and fought back her watery eyes, squeezing his knee. "I know you will be. You're good to me now. You're wonderful."

Hiccup smiled lightly and put his hand on top of her own, quiet for a minute. "I just really hope you won't slap me again in the future. That hurt," he raised a hand to his cheek, chuckling.

"Oh, gods, I'm so, so sorry," Astrid said before leaning in and moving his hand to kiss his cheek multiple times in different places, and eventually kissed his mouth in apology. Hiccup kissed her back without hesitation, making Astrid incredibly more relieved. Astrid broke off and hugged him, burying her nose into his neck. "I'm sorry, Hiccup."

"It's alright. I guess," Hiccup said into her hair, running his hand down her mane over her back. When she pulled away, he winked again.

The toast had just been finished when they arrived in the Hall and everyone was chowing down on food and drink and telling wild stores, shaking tankards around or throwing chicken legs. Together, they walked quietly to their table, somewhere in the Hall because it always changed. Some villagers said hello to Hiccup and short one-liners that Hiccup laughed about or retorted back with his own witty comment. Astrid simply smiled next to him or laughed along, but said hello to those who gave her a nod after saying something to Hiccup as if they all recognized her as his fiancé or something. It was pretty cool.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were absent from the table because they were required to sit at the family table where Oddr and Birna sat, at least for the supper part of the reception. When Hiccup and Astrid sat down, Snotlout and Fishlegs were having a wild conversation about flying techniques with a couple of other teenagers like themselves, so Hiccup molded into the talk with ease. Astrid quietly served herself a plate of food, giving Hiccup a little more than what he served himself. Astrid drank a goblet and a half of wine before the dancing and intermingling began.

Hiccup was pulled away by someone to go talk to someone else after a little while and Snotlout disappeared so Astrid sat and talked to Fishlegs about the fishing harvest because that was what he was busy with as of late. To her surprise, he pulled out a scroll from his pocket or something similar in his vest and pushed away all the dishes and goblets (Astrid narrowly picked hers up before it was spilled over in his excitement) and unrolled the vellum to reveal an array of graphs and tables and small pictures with weird figures and words of some she hadn't seen before. Astrid furrowed her brows and looked at him with a confused expression.

"Okay, so my dad gave me a ship and I've been going out almost every day because I'm trying to map the fish migrations," Fishlegs pulled out another map and unrolled it, revealing the whole northern sea with lines of solid and scrubbed out charcoal routes all over it. This dazzled Astrid mostly because she had never seen a map of such scale before; only one of their island and the surrounding sea. Her mouth dropped in surprise, however, Fishlegs mistook it for her being shocked by his line patterns. "I know! It's crazy, isn't it? But it's weird because they're so varied but constant at the same time—like here—cod increased by fifteen percent in size this year when five years ago it had actually decreased with the influx of other oceanic predators and fishermen and stuff—but that's only the group in the west, the group in the _east _has been steadily increasing by twelve percent while herring by three.

"They migrate this way so I've been trying to see how much I can catch but I've been getting eels and crab—but that's the weird part! My dad told me that's the best place for herring!" Fishlegs explained, showing Astrid his models and maps as he went and she was able to somewhat keep up with him because she had experience listening to Hiccup rant about projections and estimates and rates and such. But she was still pretty much lost.

"So… what about haddock? They're from the south, right?" Astrid asked, vaguely remembering her father talking about it with Mr. Ingerman years ago. She didn't really care all that much, but it was nice to get her mind off the whole 'incident' earlier. Really relieving.

"South east, but pretty close. They're steadily fluctuating but they're mingled in with herring a lot. The easiest ones to find and catch, so far, are cod…," Fishlegs continued to throw out various numbers and his theories for why the fish were doing this, why they mated there and what it did to affect the patterns of fish migration around Berk and the like. Astrid listened attentively for awhile until Fishlegs began talking about logistics and complicated things and then she began to tune him out, choosing to instead pick things out from the thin cracks in the table with her nail.

Astrid looked up as Fishlegs pointed at some part of a map, continuing whatever it was he was talking about, but she wasn't paying any sliver of attention, and actually found Søren in the crowd. He was a couple of tables away, standing up and chatting to some women who were obviously fawning and giggling at what he was saying. Astrid rolled her eyes. He was just swimming in all the attention.

"Hey, Fish?" Astrid said, interrupting her blond, burly friend in the middle of his sentence.

"—Yeah? Am I too confusing?" Fishlegs said, realizing he was on a ridiculous tangent now that Astrid actually said something. He sighed and pushed the maps away, taking a swig of a nearby tankard.

"Yes, but it's not that. Have you met that Søren guy yet?" Astrid asked, pointing to him discreetly. He was blushing a little, now looking a little shy. One of the women was getting a little too close for comfort.

"No, why? Isn't he Danish?" Fishlegs asked after shrugging, drinking more from the tankard.

"Yeah, but I was just wondering," Astrid sighed. It was quiet between them for a brief moment. Astrid pulled at her hair and combed her fingers through it as Fishlegs rolled up some of his scrolls quietly as the music and talk of the Hall went on around them. Hiccup appeared across the table from them, his cheeks looking a little pink from a drink he was probably offered, so Astrid flashed him a knowing smile and he looked a little bashful.

"What are these?" Hiccup asked, looking at one of the scrolls Fishlegs had not rolled up yet.

"Uh, just fish migration stuff. Nothing important," Fishlegs said quietly, tucking some of his scrolls away.

Hiccup inspected it for a few seconds longer and raised his brows in approval. "Looks important. I remember my dad talking about the risk of possibly overfishing a meeting ago. Do you have anything on that? We're trying to avoid that as much as possible," Hiccup asked, rolling up the parchment and handing it back.

"Yeah, actually, I do," Fishlegs said with new enthusiasm and pulled out a journal and flipped it to a page, showing it to Hiccup. The two began talking about overfishing and the like, making Astrid entirely uninterested. She really did not want to sit and listen to them talk about things she didn't really understand, but she didn't want to get up and risk running into people she would have to talk to. She just kind of wanted to go home and sleep.

After a couple of minutes of nearly dozing off on her elbow, Astrid looked up and saw Ruffnut waltzing around in a rather pretty dress of dark green material and a silver foil chain around her waist, her hair unbraided and flowing down her back. She looked lovely; radiant, even. She walked right up to Søren and immediately his attention turned to her, doing his fancy bowing and hand-kissing thing again that made Ruffnut pink in the face. Astrid jumped, realizing Fishlegs was next to her and he could probably see just as well as her if not better. She looked to him and he didn't seem to notice anything, pointing to some tables in his journal, his and Hiccup's heads bent over it.

A new song picked up and looking past a couple of people, Astrid saw Søren nearly fling Ruffnut over his shoulder as she burst out laughing while holding onto his shirt as he spun her around. Through the corner of her eye, Astrid saw Fishlegs raise his head.

_Oh, damn it_, Astrid thought. "Hey, Fish, I thought I heard your mom calling you just now," she said, coming up with it right on the spot though it was the lamest thing to say, ever.

It was clear now that Fishlegs saw Ruffnut and Søren dancing around the Hall, laughing obliviously and delightfully. Hiccup looked at Astrid with a funny expression and turned around when he saw her line of sight, seeing what Fishlegs was looking at with furrowed brows. Hiccup turned back around and realized what Astrid was trying to do. "Fish, can you explain this table again? I didn't quite get it," Hiccup scrambled to say but it was useless.

Fishlegs only looked down to the journal without a word, his mouth in a tight line. There was a sudden change in the air about Fishlegs that Astrid remembered before. And it wasn't good.

Before either Astrid or Hiccup knew it, Fishlegs' mouth curled into a nasty snarl with his brows knitted tight, making him almost entirely unrecognizable from the happily aloof Fishlegs they knew. He swiped the table clean of everything that was on it; goblets, plates, knives, scrolls and tankards falling to the stone floor with a loud barrage of clattering and a growl from Fishlegs. Astrid let out a yelp and Hiccup jumped back when he hurdled over the table towards Søren and Ruffnut. Hiccup jumped off the bench and ran after him, Astrid quickly following after her shock wore off.

"Fishlegs, no!" Hiccup yelled, shoving past unsuspecting people who instantly became interested and flocked after them. Astrid was in quick pursuit, scrambling after Hiccup before Fishlegs would do something regrettable.

Hiccup was the first to see Fishlegs walk right up to Søren and shove him backwards. "Fish!" Ruffnut shouted at him because he had pulled her away and nearly threw her into a wall of people. Søren fell to the ground, at first shocked but then offended, standing up and glaring Fishlegs in the eye with an intensity Hiccup had never expected nor wanted to see.

"What did I do to you?" Søren asked in a hard voice, his accent showing through his words and making him slightly more threatening though he was much smaller compared to his much bigger opponent, but he had a sword and Fishlegs did not. However, Søren never made a move to grasp his sword, though Hiccup could see his hand twitching for it just in case he needed to draw it, which would be the worst case scenario he could think of.

Fishlegs flexed his bear paws for hands, his eyes fixed on the foreign duke-general. Hiccup knew that one well-placed punch could possibly kill Søren because Fishlegs was almost twice his size, and killing Søren was not the greatest idea. Hiccup ran up to Fishlegs and stood in front of him just as he was about to step forward. "Fishlegs, don't do it, you'll regret it. Stop it, Fish!" Hiccup shouted and started pushing back when he attempted to get around him. All Fishlegs seemed to be able to mutter were angry, gargled words and 'Ruffnut'. Astrid came to assist in pulling Fishlegs back, taking one of his tree trunk arms to keep him from swinging and hurting anyone else. A few other burly Vikings seemed to realize the direness of the situation and started helping pull and push him back as he resisted with all he could. Ruffnut was able to keep Søren at bay though he wasn't nearly as fired up, and instead he looked on Fishlegs in pity.

"Fish! Fishlegs! Stop it! You'll hurt yourself!" Hiccup shouted against his friend's chest as he struggled, grunting, his foot and peg sliding on the ground to push him back. It felt like pushing on a moving wall of rock. Another Viking got a hold of Fishlegs' arms and pinned them behind his back, throwing him to the ground. Hiccup and the others had let go just in time before they were thrown down with him. This seemed to knock all the effort and energy out of him, the meanness and intent withering off his face with his cheek smashed in the stone. Whispers flew all around the Hall, the music awkwardly starting back up again from whenever it had stopped sometime in the middle of the struggle.

Hiccup breathed heavily and wiped his damp forehead as Fishlegs was picked up roughly and pulled out of the Hall, the whole village seeming to watch him go. Astrid looked around for Ruffnut or Søren but they were nowhere to be found. She stood next to Hiccup and looked at him with the same exasperated expression he had. They sighed and people began to start filling the space once more. Hiccup lifted his left arm to put his hand on his hip, but he winced and sucked in a sharp breath when his side seemed to scream at him, burning deeper into his skin.

"Is it your side?" Astrid asked quietly, looking worried for him now. She attempted to pat his ribcage where he was cut but he jerked at her touch in pain. Hiccup nodded. "Here, let's go back to your house so I can change your bandages. I think we've had enough of today," Astrid said reassuringly though she looked tired and didn't smile, wrapping her arm around his waist to lead him home.

"Me too. Today sucked," Hiccup said, putting his arm around her shoulders, walking with her to the doors. "What happened, Astrid? That. That whole thing just now," Hiccup asked, looking down at her but she kept looking forward.

"While you were gone, it was found out that Fishlegs has Berserker tendencies whenever he gets too mad, but not all the time. He beat the shit out of Munge after he was taunting Fish in the Ring during a match. You can still see his broken nose and apparently he can't see right out of his left eye where there's a scar. It was really…," Astrid paused, stepping over the threshold with Hiccup into the cool night air. They stood at the top of the staircase as children ran by laughing but Astrid didn't appear to even know they were there, thinking deeply for a way to describe it. "It was scary. I had never seen anybody go so crazy like that. Munge was a bloody pulp when they managed to pull Fish off of him after he nearly beat him unconscious. Fish says he can't remember anything when he goes Berserk. He won't talk about it anymore, either," Astrid said solemnly, exhaling through her nose. "It's sad."

Hiccup nodded and then slowly started rubbing her back. "It is. I never knew that about him and it's really unfortunate," he said quietly, leading her down the steps. "All we can do as friends is help him, support him. I mean, I don't know what else to do," Astrid shrugged.

They got halfway down the long staircase before either said anything else, looking at the star constellations above them. "Let's focus on getting your bandages clean. It'll be my forever-repentance for being the biggest jerk, ever," Astrid said seriously but Hiccup chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Your hair looks pretty."

"Don't change the subject," Astrid said and rolled her eyes, but it was clear she didn't want to talk about it. So instead, Hiccup held her hand as they walked quietly back to his house. It was alright.

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	20. Chapter 19

Agh! I was going to update on Thursday but I totally forgot about it! ): Urggghhh! Well, here it is now, on Sunday...

I'm sorry, everyone, I forgot to mention how to pronounce certain names. It's very important how they're pronounced because they're not spelled like it, but anyway: Aislin isn't pronounced EYEz-lin, it's pronounced EYEsh-lin. Look it up on Google translate if you don't know what I mean (English to Norwegian). And Auda is pronounced like OW-da not AH-da. So yeah, thought I would say that nowww.

Well, chapter is full of surprises. Yay!

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Nineteen

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Astrid woke up the next day earlier than she had in months. The sun had literally just risen when she pushed open her window. The bright sunlight warmed her chilly skin and she smiled, then walked over to her vanity to sit down and brush her hair so it shined. Normally she would have been annoyed that she woke up before her entire family, even her mother who was the earliest riser in the house, but she was oddly full of energy. Astrid cleaned her entire room though there wasn't much to clean, changed for the day—which took her forever because she couldn't decide what to wear—and when she got to the kitchen, she cleaned that, too. Seeing that her mother had set out dough to sit and rise over night, Astrid also baked the bread. She was on a roll, a whirlwind in the kitchen but she kept quiet. And all the while she hummed.

Ingrid walked into the kitchen with her hair loose in a braid that reached to her waist just as Astrid was leaving to feed the chickens through the back door. She yawned, seeing with blurry eyes that her daughter had started baking. "Thank you, dear!" Ingrid shouted weakly before the door slammed shut.

Having a quick breakfast with fresh, warm bread and strawberry preserves, Astrid left for Hallbera's, the village fully awake now. She said a chirpy 'hello!' to Hallbera when she walked in through the front. "Where's Stinkeye and Ranka?" she asked, pulling out her red dress she was nearly done with.

"Stink gave birth last night," Hallbera said with a wide smile, dropping her arms full of clothes that needed to be mended onto her table.

"Oh, did she?" Astrid smiled back, though she felt a sting in heart. "How did it go?"

Hallbera felt a little guilty for bringing it up, but she offered a reassuring smile. "Very well. Mother and daughter both healthy and strong."

"She had a daughter? She's going to be so spoiled," Astrid chuckled. So Stinkeye survived and is well. If it had been any other day, she would have been jealous and angry because her sister obviously did not survive, but today, she didn't mind. She was happy for Stinkeye and her family. Also, it made her feel a little better, if only just a bit. _If that string bean Stink can get through it, I definitely can, no problem. _

"I know! Isn't she?" Hallbera burst out laughing, sitting down and threading a needle. "She named her Rattail. Cute child," she nodded and Astrid sat down, pulling the dress over her lap to begin sewing, threading her own needle. "On the other side't of things, Ranka is taking care of her sick grandmother. Svala said she didn't 'ave much longer."

"That's unfortunate. I'm sorry to hear that," Astrid said and made a frown.

"Yes, me as well, but I talked to Ranka today and she said she herself was doin' alright. She's ancient, anyway, that woman. Thor almighty," Hallbera shook her head and chuckled deeply along with Astrid, who laughed only because she was shocked to hear Hallbera nearly poking fun at the woman's age.

"Isn't she, like, ninety or something?"

"Ninety-two. She was old when I was young."

"Oh, gods, you're evil," Astrid shook her head, threading the needle through and knotting it without hardly having to look at it.

"Not even, you knoow it's true."

"It's true," Astrid confirmed and together they burst out laughing as they sewed.

Much later, sometime just after noon, the sun started getting blocked out by a thick blanket of dark clouds. Astrid stood at the window and furrowed her brows, irked that the sun wasn't shining anymore. It was so lovely outside and now, she could see, it would probably start raining, too. Now finished with her dress, Astrid decided to clean some more. She was in a very cleaning-orientated mode today and she couldn't stop it; it came pouring out of her like a floodgate had opened.

Since the whole backroom was one giant mess, she started around her table in the back. She organized all the boxes under the table and sorted through them to put like cloth, spools, needles, rulers, bracers and a whole lot of other things in the same box, and she swept the floor and killed the bugs that crawled out. While Hallbera was up front helping fit a dress to a village woman, Astrid was heard shouting, "Die! Die! Die!" to all the ants, spiders, centipedes and other creepy crawlies that tried scurrying away. Hallbera looked to the woman and laughed nervously. "Astrid's on a cleanin' rampage," she shrugged and the woman only laughed.

Astrid only got a good third of the backroom clean before Hallbera shoved an old cloak in her hands and told her to leave. It was pouring outside when Hallbera pushed Astrid out the door, apologizing for sending her out in the rain but not really apologizing. "I 'ave to close the store, you crazy geel," Hallbera said to Astrid with a playfully scolding glimmer to her eyes before closing the back door and locking it. Astrid pulled up the droopy hood and groaned, puling the thick cloak around her before stepping out into the rain.

Astrid ran to Hiccup's house, trying to avoid all the puddles she could but being so dark it was hard to see them, and the rain was pelting down on her so hard she could barely see three feet in front of her when she could and she almost got lost on her way. She got her whole legs soaked and probably her whole body was drenched but she couldn't tell, and by the time she reached Hiccup's front porch her sandals were completely full of mud. She rinsed her feet and her legs all the way up to her calves in a puddle before climbing the stairs and knocking on his front door.

Hiccup ushered her inside and took off her cloak for her and hung it by the fire, now all worried over her well being for being soaked to the bone. He grabbed a tunic for her and made her change into it, respectfully turned as she changed in the middle of the large room though she told him many times she didn't care if he looked but Hiccup still kept turned around as he fixed her some supper. It started thundering and lightning later that night when Hiccup made Astrid some seasoned herring and bread since she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. From inside they could hear the sheets of rain slapping the roof and practically all sides of the house. They looked out the front window that faced the ocean and from their place on top of the hill, the ocean was fierce and dangerous and dark.

"Wow. I hope there aren't any boats out at sea. It would be a terrible time to be out there right now," Hiccup said quietly and a bolt of lightning flashed miles away on the surface of the ocean.

"Yeah, no kidding. That would suck," Astrid said and bit into a piece of buttered bread.

After she finished eating, Hiccup brought Astrid up to his room and together they fixed a leak in his roof and a few more they discovered around the house. But after all that, he sat her on his bed so he could sketch more of her, and after zoning out for awhile drawing, Hiccup looked over his board on his knee with the parchment pinned to it and saw Astrid sleeping on his bed. He smiled, finding her so endearing. She told him about her busybody day so he could only chuckle. She was exhausted.

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Hanging out at the bay a few days later, Astrid opened her eyes from a good nap and yawned, sitting up from lying on Hiccup's chest. She pulled herself up to stand and stretch, the warm sunlight through the leaves helping to loosen her muscles, but in doing so she woke Hiccup up.

"My butt is sore," Hiccup grumbled with a cheery smile, standing up next to Astrid to stretch backwards beneath the tree.

"That was a lovely nap, if I may say," Astrid smiled, still looking a little sleep-dreary when she turned to face him.

"It was, I have to agree with you. I dreamed about you, by the way," Hiccup jumped up to touch an overhanging branch, making the leaves shudder.

"Oh, really? What was it about?" Astrid asked and sat down with her legs stretched out. Hiccup sat against the tree trunk where he leaned on before dozing off with Astrid in his arm, picking up his sketchbook he had set aside awhile ago to draw the scenery for the fourth time.

Hiccup chuckled, tapping his mouth with the unburned end of his charcoal pencil. "You transformed into a Nadder and laid chicken eggs," Hiccup said beneath a deep laugh. "Not your most flattering moment, there, dear."

Astrid giggled and rolled her eyes, lying down on the grass with her hands behind her head. She sighed contentedly and watched the leaves above shake in the gentle sea breeze that made its way across the bay through the channel. Hiccup finished sketching and together they flew back to the village on their respective dragons after a few detours, showing off to each other and trying out new moves and later showing them to the other village kids flying around, avoiding their chores like Astrid was currently doing. Astrid waved goodbye after a long while and Hiccup waved back before diving toward the sea with Snotlout. She veered Spike away and flew calmly home while the sun started to fall in the sky, casting warm oranges on the village that made it look picturesque and rather welcoming, the stone statues out in the sea starting to be lit like they were advertising Berk. Astrid smiled and scratched Spike's neck; she really did like this island, even though years back all she wanted was to leave, but she knew now that this was where she was meant to be.

Astrid left Spike in the barn and scattered some hay for her before going inside through the back kitchen door. Walking inside, she was thoroughly surprised to see an older middle-aged woman sitting at the table she hadn't seen before with a cup of ale and milk dressed in midwife's garb, and a child sitting next to her with a baby in her mother's arms. Astrid couldn't help but stare with a gaping mouth, looking between the three mysterious people with furrowed brows and a more than confused expression on her face. And to help, neither Auda nor her mother seemed to give any hints or explanations except Ingrid's eyes were watery as she smoothed down the baby's wild and dark hair.

"…What? I-I… who?" Astrid asked to no one in particular, the little girl at the table staring at her with a blank expression that made Astrid a little wary.

"Meet your niece and nephew," Auda said, leaning against the counter, looking a little pale. "Whom I've been entitled to take care of now. Thanks, Aislin," she said in a sarcastic tone, taking one last gulp of whatever it was she was drinking, probably something with alcohol in it because she didn't look too happy.

"What? This is Snare and Ragna?" Astrid asked in a shrill voice until the midwife shushed her, looking pointedly to Snare sleeping in Ingrid's arms. "Don't 'shh' me, woman! I don't even know you—,"

"Astrid!" Ingrid said in a harsh whisper, looking at her daughter in a way that would always make her feel a little scared. "Don't be so rude. Odin's eye. And yes, this is Ragna and Snare, and yes, they'll be staying with us, particularly under Auda's care but she can't do it herself. Sit down, Astrid," Ingrid pointed to the seat next to her, across from Ragna. Astrid ground her teeth and sat down, avoiding Ragna's stare as much as possible.

Ingrid sighed and adjusted Snare in her arms, his socked foot sliding out from the blanket. "In the storm a couple of days ago, Kollr and his ship of men were lost at sea on their way back from the mainland. There were search parties, Alhildr told me, but they weren't able to recover any of the men. When Aislin was dying, she told me she wanted Auda to take care of her children if anything were to happen to Kollr, and he respected her decision to let his family know if anything like that came to pass. Well…," Ingrid paused and smiled sadly at Ragna, who only stared back with her big green eyes reminiscent of her mother's. "here they are. This is their wet nurse Alhildr, so she'll be staying with us for awhile, too."

Astrid raised her brows in shock. "Wow. Okay. Wow. Uhm," she put a hand to her forehead, trying to sort out her thoughts. "This happened way too fast," Ingrid and Alhildr nodded while Auda only rolled her eyes—she was not excited at all, it seemed. She looked incredibly nervous, actually, Astrid could see. "So… who's staying where?"

"I'm still thinking about that. I know Snare and Alhildr will stay in the living room and I'm not quite sure where Ragna will stay. Either in your room or in Auda and Brandan's," Ingrid explained slowly, rocking Snare just a little.

"There isn't any room in our room," Auda said with hints of exhaustion.

"We can make room. There's plenty of storage space in the attic," their mother replied.

"We were going to bring all that when we got a house, mom," Auda said curtly, annoyance now tingeing her words.

"I don't think you'll be getting a house anytime soon, Auda. Your father and I aren't going to be here forever and Astrid will be moving out. Enough," Ingrid said with her motherly I-don't-want-to-hear-anymore-of-this-conversation voice. She was about to start speaking again until Ragna interrupted her with her tiny voice.

"I want to stay with her," she said rather quietly but everyone could hear her, pointing sheepishly to Astrid with a chubby finger.

"Okay, that works," Auda raised her hands and grinned in spite. Ingrid tossed her a nasty look before Auda left the kitchen. Both Astrid's mother and Alhildr smiled at her, happy to have come to a decision.

"It's settled, then."

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"No, it's _A_strid. _Aaaas_trid."

"S'did."

Astrid slapped a hand to her forehead. "No, Ragna. My name is not S'did. _Aaaaas_trid. Say it with me. _Aaaas_trid."

"Aaaahsdid."

Astrid sighed. "Close enough. Say it again."

"S'did."

Astrid paused and stared at her. There was no changing it, she supposed. "Just don't call me Diddy, please. Turn around," Astrid said as gently as she could and Ragna turned around on her bed, giggling.

"Diddy!"

"Oh, no," Astrid rolled her eyes and pulled her brush gently through Ragna's long and fine and snarly brown hair.

"Aunt Diddy," Ragna said, contemplating it while she kicked her little feet off the edge of the bed. "I like your room, Aunt Diddy," she looked around curiously so Astrid had to hold her head to keep her still.

"Do you?" Astrid said without any interest whatsoever.

"Yeah. You have pretty things," Ragna folded her hands delicately in her lap and Astrid smirked. _Didn't Aislin say she was supposed to be like me, though? I hated pretty things when I was three_, Astrid thought. "But I like your axe more."

Okay, much better. "Good. But _don't touch it. _It's very, very sharp and it's too heavy for you. You can only look at it, got it?" Astrid grinned wider. They might get along after all.

"Okay. Will you teach me?"

"How to use an axe?"

"Yeah."

"Of course. Not until you're older, though. When the boys start to tease you I'll teach you some awesome moves to shove their faces in the dirt and scare them off. Sound good?"

Ragna giggled and nodded her head vigorously. "I want to see you do some."

"Oh, I can. I know a perfect subject to help with that," Astrid sniggered, imagining Hiccup's face fall and turn pale.

"You'll be all like 'whoosh!' and 'bam!' and—," she made a noise that sounded like something falling apart while sticking her tongue out. "and he'll be dead."

Astrid laughed. "Not quite dead, Ragna. You don't want to kill anybody, but he'll be scared out of his pants."

"No pants?"

"No pants!" Astrid laughed and braided Ragna's hair when she was done brushing it and Ragna giggled hysterically. "That way, you get to laugh at him as he runs away naked."

"Eeeww! Nakey!" Ragna stuck her tongue out and covered her eyes with her chubby hands. Astrid pulled the covers of the bed away and Ragna crawled underneath them, pulling up her stitched-up rag doll. Astrid tucked her in and blew out some candles before lifting up her side of the covers and lying down.

"Time for sleepy time, Ragna," Astrid said when she noticed that Ragna hadn't even bothered to shut her eyes.

"My mommy used to sing me good night and Hildy does too," Ragna said in a small and innocent voice and Astrid's stomach dropped. That was the last thing she wanted to hear.

"I can't sing, Ragna. I'm sorry," Astrid rolled over towards her and said, barely able to discern the small girls' face in the dark with only slits of light from the moon outside coming in.

"Please, Aunt Diddy? I can't sleep."

"Try to, Ragna."

"I can't, though!" her voice started to be choked with tears and Astrid felt even worse. She hardly remembered the lullabies from when she was a kid, and her mom never sung her to sleep! Why did Aislin decide to?

"Ragna, I can't sing to you, I don't even know any lullabies. I can read a story?" Astrid offered lamely though she knew she would have to dig to find those books.

"No! I want Hildy!" she started crying.

"Ragna, she's sleeping. You have to go to sleep, too. Shh, be quiet. Time for sleep. Shh," Astrid propped herself on her elbow and tried calming her down by stroking her forehead but Ragna only turned onto her side, away from her, and cried into her pillow and blanket.

Astrid found herself feeling terrible. She felt horrendous and stupid that she made her little niece cry because she couldn't sing her a simple lullaby. And it was hard to hear Ragna sniffle and whine so adorably but so sadly that it made Astrid's heart and stomach wrench. She laid down on her bed again and stared at the darkness above her, wishing Ragna would stop crying so she wouldn't feel like the worst person on Midgard. She covered her ears and that helped a little but she couldn't sleep like that so she rolled onto her side and used her pillow to cover her ears. However, after awhile, Ragna started getting quieter and she eventually fell asleep, but even then Astrid had a hard time sleeping. Why did she feel so terrible?

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Despite Ragna's little fit in Astrid's room, she hung around her 'Aunt Diddy' nearly all the time. She wanted to do the things Astrid did, she repeated her sentences, replayed her actions, and even found a ribbon to act as a temporary fillet. Astrid was mixed between feeling quite flattered and annoyed, but even though she was only three years old, she was really intelligent and they got along well for being fourteen years apart. Ragna grew on Astrid in the short span of two days after hanging around to help her mother and sister to 'childproof' the house once again, hiding or hanging up weapons from reach, re-arranging furniture to make it easier for child navigation and to get Alhildr's curtained-off room situated with her chest of things and Snare's crib, along with their small collection of toys. Astrid, however, often sneaked out of the house while Ragna wasn't paying attention to go see Hiccup and find some solace from the craziness that suddenly became her home. It was much like the Thorston's house and she often found herself wanting to pull her hair out sometimes when she was there.

When Snare was awake, he was a cheerful baby, though still small and wrinkly and unable to do much but eat, sleep and make dirty cloth diapers. He didn't cry often, which was a great relief on the whole family, and Auda started growing accustomed to him as well after Alhildr taught her a few basics with some input from Ingrid. She was taught how to change and bathe a baby but Alhildr breastfed him and demonstrated once how to do it but Auda never asked again. She tried a few times to get Ragna to change into a certain dress, even chasing the little girl, naked, around the house.

"You take care of her," Auda groaned and threw to dress to Astrid's lap while she was eating a bowl of steamed oats at the table, and threw up her hands in defeat as Ragna giggled hysterically from the corner of the kitchen. "I'll take care of Snare. I have no patience for children!" Astrid only rolled her eyes and smiled, waving Ragna over.

Arnheim didn't much like the idea of having a toddler and a baby back at the house and he loudly expressed his opinion to his wife one night in their room, away from everyone else. Ingrid talked some sense into him, pointing out that _Aislin_ had asked this of her sisters and mother and only then did he understand. However, he refused to hold Snare even when Auda offered and preferred to stay away from Ragna though she liked to play with his beard. For being such a small child, she managed to give him a little bruise on his hand after he challenged her to punch him because she was gloating about her strength to him one night. After that, Arnheim was willing to have Ragna sit in his lap as he read to her almost every night after supper through the first week.

Brandan and Ragna got along almost as well as Astrid and her, and he would often play tag with her and other sorts of games she would subject him to. Often times, she would sit on his back and Brandan would hold onto her legs tight as he flew around like a dragon, making roaring noises and pretending to spit fire. He would also act like the 'evil' sea serpent guarding the treasure chest and Ragna would slay him. She would always manage to make someone laugh with her witty words or her cheeky smile with white little teeth starting to come in, and though she was a rambunctious little thing, she had a soft spot for her brother. Ragna would bring him flowers from outside or bring him his toy so he would stop crying when he did, and she would pat his head when he giggled. After a week's time, it almost felt like the two children had always been there.

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"Well, hey, you're alive after all!" Hiccup exclaimed when Astrid walked into the forge. He threw off his gloves and went over to her, sweeping her into a huge hug and spinning her around as she laughed. Hiccup kissed her passionately since he hadn't in days; the last time he saw her was three days ago when she had ran out of her house to get away from Ragna. "The last time I saw you, you were nearly pulling your hair out," Hiccup said when he lowered her back to the ground and let her go, walking back over to the anvil where he left his gloves to put them back on.

"Yes, but I'm less frustrated now. Ragna is still clingy, but at least I can leave her without her bawling her eyes out," Astrid said as she inspected a sword, spinning the hilt around in her grip to make it arch and gleam. "And… I missed you," she said and smiled at Hiccup warmly when he looked at her from the anvil. He grinned, a little soot on his cheek—he looked adorable.

"I missed you, too. I was beginning to think she stole you from me," Hiccup said loudly over his pounding on the iron rod to shape for a saddle someone had commissioned him for.

Astrid guffawed. "Nah, never," she put the sword back where it hung on the wall and folded her arms behind her back as she strolled to where Hiccup stood. She waited briefly for him to pause hitting the iron so she could snake her hands around his waist, pressing her pull palms into his tunic, his warm skin beneath the fabric nearly radiating. Hiccup smiled and she set her chin on his shoulder and held him close. She sighed contentedly and kissed his shoulder. Astrid slid her hands beneath his apron and moved her hands up and down on his stomach and palmed his hips, kissing the back of his neck while barely on her tip toes. She smiled when she heard him sigh and melt into her.

"Astrid…," Hiccup whispered, shaking off his gloves and swallowing hard.

She nuzzled her nose into his skin and made an 'mmm?' noise just before Hiccup turned around in her grasp and took her cheeks in her hands, pressing his forehead to hers. She barely opened her eyes, seeing his hundreds of freckles in the warm light from outside and the fire crackled some feet behind him. Astrid could feel the edges of his lips with his slightly open mouth like he was intentionally trying to entice her to kiss him first. She didn't, and instead gripped handfuls of his tunic, building up the tension until they were about to cripple.

Astrid pulled Hiccup down to her and he pulled her up to him and they kissed each other hard and pressed impossibly closer. Something different possessed them both as they kissed rather roughly; Hiccup biting her lip and Astrid digging her nails into his back, but neither could say it wasn't exciting. Hiccup pushed Astrid backwards into a nearby counter hard enough so it shook and knocked a couple of things over, and possibly leaving an indent in her lower back. Astrid pulled at his hair and nipped at his tongue while Hiccup raked his fingers down her sides and squeezed her breasts enough to make her gasp but not enough to cause lasting pain. Astrid arched into him and a familiar warmth flowed through her and pooled at her core, and little did she know that Hiccup felt the same sensation, almost mirroring it.

Hiccup crouched and put his hands underneath Astrid's rear to lift her up onto the counter and he gathered up her dress in the process to bunch it around her hips. An excited jolt electrified Astrid when Hiccup pulled her underwear down to her ankles without a second guess or any hints of hesitation, taking the initiative, and she found him irresistible when he looked at her briefly with sharp eyes and a crooked smirk. She moaned loudly into his ear when his hand met her hot center until he kissed her to keep her quiet, sliding his finger along her clit. He rubbed the little pearl of flesh and reveled in Astrid's fingers in his hair, stroking along his jaw, pulling at his apron as she spread her legs further for him.

Hiccup enjoyed making Astrid shake and quiver and sigh, especially when his name was on her lips. Usually in these sexually-charged situations he wasn't so wanton and slightly lewd but something came over him and Astrid only seemed to keep drawing it out. He was more comfortable with the gentle touches, the soft words, and until five minutes ago he didn't know he was capable of this roughness. Astrid was the rough one of the two, but because Hiccup wanted to please her, she brought out his rough side and he complied, and he didn't mind because Astrid was writhing beneath him. He slid his first two fingers into her and went to his knuckle, nibbling at her lip. Astrid pulled away and threw her head back and shouted quietly to Valhalla, allowing access to her pristine pale neck he found he wanted to violate. Hiccup suckled a spot that would be easily hidden by her mass of hair and gently nipped at her skin while she breathed heavily.

"Faster, Hiccup, damn it," Astrid groaned in a gritty voice, hardly able to keep herself up even with her hands behind her on the counter because she was trembling so much. Hiccup did what she asked and ground his teeth. She threw her head back and nearly screamed but Hiccup put his hand over her mouth and she spitefully bit his hand.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and smirked devilishly. "Naughty," he pushed Astrid down to the counter and held her down by her shoulder. She let out an airy laugh before moaning shrilly that let Hiccup know she was really close to her climax.

A few more pumps and swirling her sensitive flesh, Astrid fell apart on the counter. Hiccup had put his hand over her mouth once again before she went over her peak but he removed his hand as soon as her eyes appeared from the back of her head, and he swiftly pulled her up to sit so he could kiss her hard and deep, holding her tight. Astrid was a little surprised by this but she didn't mind since she was filled with such affection and gratitude for him. Completely changed from his actions before, he stroked her hair and cheeks and kissed her carefully on her swollen lips.

Astrid pulled away so she could breathe and catch her breath. She still hugged Hiccup, bent forward so she rested her chin on his shoulder comfortably, smoothing down his hair she royally messed up. In her arms, she was surprised to feel him shaking. "Hiccup, why are you trembling?" she asked, sitting back to hold his face in her hands to look him in the eye.

"Because," he simply stated, his eyes awake and livid and beautiful. _Because I love you, Astrid_, he thought with a sigh, smiling.

"Because why?" she asked him seriously. "Did I do something that you didn't like, or…?" she tried to guess but Hiccup only chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"No, not at all. I hope you didn't _not _like anything."

"Oh, no. That was the quickest ever," she laughed and blushed and Hiccup guffawed.

"Well, I'm happy, then. Don't worry about me, silly," Hiccup removed her hands from his cheeks and kissed them before lowering her hands to her lap. He caressed her bangs out of her face and kissed her brow before stepping away to help her off the counter.

Astrid jumped off and her knees buckled, unused to balance after all that, but Hiccup caught her before she could fall. Astrid giggled with a blush of embarrassment and righted herself so she could pull up her underwear. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said quietly and Hiccup found her so cute with her blush across her lightly freckled cheeks, and with this he felt his heart swell even more; she called him sweetheart.

"No need to thank me," Hiccup said bashfully with his own blush edition, turning to go over and pump the bellows until he saw the fire had died. He let out a loud, over-done huff. "No more forge work today; the fire's out."

"That's perfect because I was going to ask you if wanted to do something. Hang out, go for a walk, go for a ride. Something," Astrid shrugged and started sweeping the packed dirt floor.

Hiccup shut the doors to the fire and took off his apron and hung it on the designated hook. "Okay, I can do that," he winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"What can't you do, right?" Astrid said sarcastically with a playful smile and she helped him shut the windows.

"Right. I can make your knees buckle," Hiccup laughed when Astrid punched his shoulder hard enough to make it go numb and tingle.

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><p><strong>Anonymous:<strong>

**Faker: Thank you so much, that's awfully kind of you :) I really appreciate it!**

**Tekotchi: Thank youu as well! I hope this chapter was good enough, though it's still a little short. I promise Chapter 20 will be longer! :)  
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	21. Chapter 20

I cannot express how sorry I am in taking forever to update! This summer has been nuts, guys, and I haven't had much time in sitting down and writing, not to mention I was in a huge block before writing this chapter (and I still kind of am, but I'm trying to push through it!). So, I'm really sorry. I give you lots of hugs. And I tried making this chapter longer but I still couldn't get past the 8,000 word marker, damn it. Well, I hope you guys are having a great summer, and here's to Chapter 20! Whooo! I can't believe I've made it this far. holy cow. And all thanks to you guys! :) My awesome reviewers *sniff* :D

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Twenty

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Hiccup walked to the forge early in the morning a few days later in a light sprinkle with a blanket of grey clouds cast overhead. He started the fires while eating a near-stale hunk of bread for his breakfast and started his work not soon after, tying his apron on and pumping with one arm while he finished the last of the bread. The coals grew hot and burned a bright red with each old grandfather wheeze of the bellows and he threw on some scraps of metal to fashion into spearheads. Hiccup fell into his work like nothing was different, his hammer only an extension of his arm as he folded the metal and pounded and pounded and pounded until it was a brutal shape and let it hiss angrily in the water only to pound on it some more. Before long, the sun was shining and sweat poured down his forehead and cheeks in clean, wet streaks on his dirty face. And once the sun was out and the night dew dried up, there was a line of customers at the window.

Flustered and confused, he took weapon after weapon and hastily wrote down orders, breaking more than a few pencils. Someone wanted this sharpened, this realigned, that rebalanced, a fresh handle, new bolts or a new weapon altogether. Villagers came and went, buying new axes, hammers, spears, picking up their fixed weapons from that wretched pile that only started to grow just today. They spoke of a tournament being staged within a few days, called something like the Heathens Brawl, but Hiccup had not heard of it so he could have cared less because he found himself with more than twenty weapons that needed fixing and two hundred thousand rings to make for the mailer. He was in far over his head and he felt himself panicking, and quickly.

"Gobber!" Hiccup rapped his fist on the front door frantically as if there were trolls at his back, jolting the old warrior from his afternoon nap on his favorite arm chair. Fil, his pet sheep and recently shaven for wool, leaped from his lap with a startled balk, prancing into the other room. "Gobber! I know you're there! GOBBER!"

"What d'ya want, ya fool! Thor almighty, I was 'avin' a fantastic dream, I was. I was ridin' a moose-bear wit tha fairest maiden ya ever did see," Gobber heaved himself from his chair and hobbled over to the front door until Hiccup slammed it open.

"Moose-bears don't exist!" he shouted at his master, his voice nearly cracking with all the stricken panic he put into it. His eyes wide green coins, Gobber would have laughed and cuffed his ear if he didn't come walking into his house. "Gobber—I don't know what to do! Everyone decided to come to the forge today all at _once _with a million things to do! What's going on! The 'Heathens Brawl'? What is that!" Hiccup walked around Gobber in circles, clutching at his hair.

"Boy, naow, who said't yeh could just stroll right in, eh? Not me! Not Fil! Not even teh gods—," Gobber tried saying, but he was cut off by Hiccup's more urgent voice.

"I can't do it myself! You need to come to the forge—now! We need to get these done in _two _days! Two! Two!" Hiccup held up two fingers to Gobber's face and Fil's as well when he came back into the room. Gobber rolled his eyes and hit Hiccup over the head with his hook. "Ow!" he shouted and held his head and ducking to avoid another swing. "What was that for!"

"Ya stupid blabberin', bonehead! Calm yarself daown some, boy, or I'll do it again," Gobber snorted and spit on his own floor. "Aye, it's the Heathens Brawl, and eye, it's in two days—I see them fingers you showed me, Hiccup, I did, and I knoow. Ya say yeh need me at the forge? Alrigh', I'll come. Ya don't 'ave to com whippin' in like a sea storm in me own house and shoutin' like both yar left and right socks were stolen, naow, do ya?" He looked sternly at Hiccup, but the younger smith only furrowed his brows and pursed his mouth in a straight line. "No, I think not. See, yeh scared Fil half ta death with your cries and curses," Together they looked over where Fil stood chewing some rushes from across the floor, eyes half lidded and looking like he could lay sideways and sleep.

Hiccup looked back at Gobber and guffawed. "Wow, he looks terrified. I know I'm scary, Fil, and I sincerely apologize," Hiccup said to the sheep with a heavy coat of sarcasm to disprove Gobber's point.

Gobber put his fist and hook on his non-existent hips and puffed out his barrel-sized chest and eyed the boy with a crooked grin that Hiccup knew he meant to scold him. He put his own hands on his hips and puffed out his own chest, hardly a comparison to the seasoned and burly older smith, but more in humor to mock his master. "Boy," Gobber said in a low, gritty voice. "that mouth of yars will arn yeh another wallop!"

Hiccup smirked and stuck out his jaw like Gobbers own, angering him even more. "What are yeh waitin' farr?" he said in a thick accent, and narrowly dodged Gobber's hook swinging at him before he bounded out the door, hooting. Just as Gobber stepped outside the door to chase after him, he stood on the porch and let out a mighty laugh, his mouth open to the sky and his rotund belly shaking.

"Hiccup, lad, yer gettin' better by tha day. Someday, you'll even look like me too, and that lass of yars will 'ardly be able to resist yeh," Gobber clapped Hiccup on the back and made him nearly fall over even now at eighteen.

"She can hardly now," Hiccup joked along, walking with Gobber back to the forge, each with their signature hobble.

Gobber bellowed once more and told Hiccup about his maiden he had so valiantly saved while astride a moose-bear the short distance back. Gobber, with his stories, could take an hour to tell which would have taken five minutes, but he had to add every detail and his own two coins. Hiccup enjoyed hearing his many stories though some he's heard too many times, but he didn't mind because he loved to be his company though he would never admit it outwardly. He would drown and immerse himself in Gobber's tales; smelling, tasting, feeling every detail described, and when he was younger, it helped to save him from his reality he was reluctant to face. He had always considered Gobber to be an uncle-figure and an old friend. Oftentimes, he looked forward to Gobber's stories or the gossip he picked up from the older women to make the forge work go by faster, and easier, nonetheless.

"When did this tournament thing start, anyway? I haven't heard of a tournament since dragon-slaying ended," Hiccup said over the loud scratching from the grindstone where he stood, his arms feeling the pricks from the sparks but he was far used to it.

Gobber was making rings by the handful; it took him no longer than twenty seconds to cut a perfect sized strip of wire-thin metal, bend it into a circle, and throw it into the box next to him at the table. "Ohh, aboot two years ago. You were gone by then, doin' yar little adventure," Gobber replied.

"Research, Gobber. It was far from an adventure. Big women forced me to run up mountains and hacked at me with wooden swords until they made me hit them back. I was chased by pirates, chased by dragon-thirsty mobbers, caught in the middle of more pub brawls than I care to count, and once where I almost got my throat slit," Hiccup replied amiably, pulling the axe away from the grindstone to check the sharpness with his thumbnail. Deeming it sharp enough, he set it down in a crate a third of the way full with sharpened weapons and reached for a longsword in another crate. "Ransomed for money I didn't have and attacked by more unusual dragons than you've ever seen. No simple adventure, Gobber," Hiccup chuckled.

"No, lad, those are the best ones! The ones that'll scare yar breeches off, prove yar valor, fightin' far yer life! Ohh, 'ow I miss me adventurin' days. Great times they were, oh yes," Gobber said with a far off look to his eye, remembering all his adventures and the tales he told about them, nodding his head approvingly.

Hiccup smiled. "I suppose it was like an adventure, though I did more exploring and preaching than research. It was… exciting," he remembered for a moment, a familiar feeling flushing over him, almost seeing the places he had been, almost tasting the food he ate (and the tightness in his stomach when he didn't). He could have done whatever he wanted, and he had to use his wits to get him out of sticky situations and he remembered the scared-ness he felt and the swift, exciting rush after. He could see the hills and the greenness that blanketed them, the bluest oceans, the most beautiful dragons, the ugliest women, all those accents and different languages. The monasteries with their endless books and herbs, the crumbling homes, the vastness of the wheat fields, the dirty children hidden under thatched roofs. All those pretty girls who would smile at him, some with crooked teeth or flaming red hair, and he could remember his blush crawl up his neck. _I was leagues and leagues away only months ago. Where was I years ago? _

He wanted to show Astrid all those things, the beauty of the world beyond this island. She had never left it, he realized, not even to go to Meathead Island and he wondered why. She seemed to be more eager than he about everything, why hadn't she left? He decided then that he would show her. He would. He had to give her a taste of the open ocean and open fields, to feel the dirt between her toes as a warm rain fell, and the softest and greenest grass beneath her hands. Hiccup wanted to show her it all; all those dragons and villages and everything. Everything. He would pack her up and throw her over his shoulder if he had to, but he knew it wouldn't have to come to that because she would go with him. He would bring her before they had children together or after they married. Hiccup was excited and anxious and he wanted to tell her—but, no, secrecy was best. Yes, far better. He wouldn't tell her, and that way she wouldn't be expecting it.

Hiccup grinned. _Yes, she'll love me for it. _

Both Gobber and Hiccup stayed at the forge well past nightfall, bantering back and forth for hours and tossing weapons deftly to each other, and some petty arguments erupted here and there. By the time Gobber shut the doors to the fire, they had finished more than half of the weapons brought in from the morning and Hiccup was nearly falling asleep where he stood. Gobber pushed the boy out the door and Hiccup gladly went.

He came back early the next morning despite his short sleep schedule, determined to get the weapons all done before noon so he could train himself as he saw others doing all around the village. He had hardly touched his sword since he came back and he found himself missing the steel in his hand. Iron was the metal of Vikings since no steel could be found or fashioned this far north, and he missed the lightness of his sword. He felt strong and powerful with it in his hand and at his side, not to mention _awesome _with Toothless next to him, he thought. _We were pretty cool together down in those cities and villages. _

Not soon after the whole village was out and about enjoying the warm sun did Astrid come to the window with Ragna holding her hand. Hiccup grinned at her from the anvil and threw off his gloves, going outside to hug her and kiss her cheek despite his dirty clothing. Astrid hugged him with one arm because she held her great heavy axe, Ragna hiding behind her legs childishly.

"I've missed you," Astrid said into his ear and gave him a quick peck on the lips before releasing him.

"And I you," his eyes sparkled a little brighter, and then he noticed Ragna's wide light green eyes staring at him. He knelt and leaned sideways a little to see around Astrid. "Well, who's this?" he asked kindly, knowing full well it was Ragna with her eyes and dark hair and spattering of freckles. She looked just like Aislin as well as Hiccup knew and remembered her.

"Ragna, say hello to Hiccup. Why are you so shy? C'mon," Astrid moved sideways to stand against the outside of the forge so Ragna wouldn't hide behind her again, leaving her standing in her roughspun beige dress, a few flowers in her curly hair.

"Hi," Ragna said in a low voice, looking wide eyed at Hiccup's face more in curiosity than fear.

"Hi, Ragna, I'm Hiccup. It's an honor to meet you," he held out his hand and Ragna put her own hand in his gingerly, and he lifted up her hand to kiss her dimpled knuckles. Ragna giggled sweetly and pushed her other hand to her cheek.

"Taking after Søren?" Astrid laughed, looking at him like she couldn't believe what he did.

"Do you want me to bow?" he spoke to Astrid, his eyes white against his dirty face.

"Yes!" Ragna declared, hopping.

"Well, alright, then," Hiccup stood up and dropped into a bow, making Ragna giggle even more. He felt his stomach flutter a little, glad beyond his wits he wasn't scaring her or making a fool of himself to get her to laugh. Astrid punched his shoulder when he stood, laughing along with her niece.

Astrid held up her axe as a gesture. "Hey, can you fix this? It isn't throwing right," Hiccup took it from her and gripped the leather handle tight, twisting it around and holding it sideways to inspect it.

"Of course. It'll only take a second," he smiled. "Feel free to come inside, but keep Ragna close; there's things strewn everywhere," Hiccup led them inside while Astrid took Ragna's hand and told her to be careful.

Hiccup winched open the vice quickly and held Astrid's old axe in it to close it shut. He twisted some loose bolts and shook the handle around gently while Astrid struck up a conversation with Gobber. Ragna pulled on one of his long mustaches and giggled hysterically when Gobber made a honking noise, and a pig snort when she did it again, and another noise. Hiccup tightened the bolts and straightened the axe head to re-align it, and winched open the vice again when he was done. He held it up and swung it once, finding it suitable for his lovely girlfriend.

He brought the axe to her and handed it to her hilt first. "There, all finished." Astrid took it from him and let go of Ragna's hand to swing it around some, and grinned widely at Hiccup when she had deemed it fitting.

"Wow, thank you, it feels great swinging it. I'll have to see when I throw it, but it's perfectly balanced now. Thanks, Hiccup," It was obvious the blush that came to his cheeks. "Do you want to par a little later for the tournament? I still have yet to see you with your sword and I intend to fight you with it," Astrid asked with a spark of challenge to her voice.

"Yeah, of course. I just have to fix some of these weapons, but—,"

"Go on, boy. I can finish 'em. I'm not as old as you think I am, and I'm still faster 'an you," Gobber waved Hiccup off with a crooked smile and threw him a rag to wipe his face off. Hiccup gladly caught it and ran it through his dirty hair as well; later, he was definitely going to take a bath.

Astrid and Hiccup conceded to meet back up in the fields by Hiccup's house for the grazing sheep, all suited in their armor to practice. Hiccup was waiting for her, sitting on a rock and sharpening his sword with a whetstone. Hiccup had made his sword himself, plain compared to some knight's own swords, but decorated enough for him. The hilt was worn brown leather and on the ends of the crossguard were red dragon teeth he plucked from a skull somewhere, and the blade was near-white steel. It was his favorite thing he had ever crafted, however the sword itself was still nameless. His family's swords all had names, but he had been unable to name this one. Nonetheless, he treated the sword with care and sharpened it enough to so even the air sounded like it was being sliced in two.

When Astrid came around, Hiccup stood up and laughed when Ragna came bounding up the stairs, her aunt looking resigned. "I told her she couldn't come, but my mom insisted she watch, at least," Astrid shrugged with half a smile before she noticed Hiccup in his own armor. "Where did you come from? Certainly not from our islands!" she let out a bark of laughter.

Hiccup looked down himself and looked down Astrid, truly seeing the difference between them. Astrid wore a thick boiled leather jerkin with old silver buttons, rock-hard leather shoulder pauldrons surely lined with metal and with her signature spikes around the edges, chainmail beneath her woolen tunic and dark leather arm bracers and fingerless black leather gloves. She wore woolen breeches and leather boots up to her knees cross-crossed with bands of more leather. Leather, leather, leather. She even had some hardened cloth pouches on the back of her spiked belt probably filled with throwing knives, though she wouldn't use those on him. He hoped.

"Yeah, I suppose. I made all this in Ireland and England, so it's different," Hiccup said, swinging his sword in arches. "But better," he added with a cocky grin.

He was working for a smith that made armor for a lord who was at the time gearing up for battle, so Hiccup would view and observe all the armor that came in and out of the forge and helped to make much of it. Though he could have made himself armor more like those in England and Ireland, he wanted to make his better. He had a steel gorget at his throat with thick leather attached to lay against his chest, a thick and quite heavy leather vest with small steel plates sewn in between two layers and straps across so he could buckle it closed, a woolen tunic that was faded blue and heavy chainmail beneath, and boiled leather arm bracers up to his elbows with supple black leather gloves, a shin plate on his good leg and another smaller one over the mechanics of his peg, and a heavy leather boot.

Brandon had praised him for his armor while he taught Hiccup some sword techniques in Dublin with some archery tips, and had commissioned Hiccup to make him some things for a hefty price. Broke because he spent most of his money making his armor and buying food for both him and Toothless, Hiccup gladly accepted, and squeezed all the value out of that money for the remainder of his trip.

"With all that on?" Astrid guffawed. "No, I don't think so, dear. I'll be faster than you any day," she boasted, and quietly told Ragna to sit and watch and walked over to the Hiccup while twisting the axe handle in her hand.

"Oh, I know it. I've fought many like you," Hiccup held his sword with his left hand and stood slightly sideways. His weapon was mostly one-handed but the hilt was just barely long enough to fit half his right hand for powerful strikes. "Because of my lame half-leg I can't ever be as fast as you, but I am stronger. You'd never think it by how small I was hardly three years ago, Astrid, but you'll see."

And with that, Hiccup leaped forward and swung a strong swing at her belly that she just barely parried away. Astrid screamed and swung at him but Hiccup took a wide side-step and avoided her strike. Quickly, she changed her swing and went to his shoulder but Hiccup stopped her axe and shoved it aside. Astrid took some more wild and rapid swings, irked every time Hiccup avoided her blows or knocked them aside. Of course she wasn't aiming to hurt him, but at least to get him where she _could _hurt him was her goal, and clearly his as well. Astrid narrowly avoided swift jabs and swings, and she did find out how strong he really was. Blocking his sword repeatedly time after time, after awhile her arms started shaking, and when he pushed down to tease her once or twice she thought she was near to cleaving her own head in two. She was strong as well, but she mostly relied upon her speed and agility to tackle an opponent, but Hiccup was not quite slow either, though not extremely quick. He just always seemed to know where she was.

While Ragna clapped and screamed from yards away, watching wide-eyed in awe, a few villagers stopped to watch the chief's son and the youngest Hofferson daughter par and fight, spinning around each other. They had never seen Hiccup fight since he had returned in a larger form of his previous boyish self, so many were surprised and astonished to see him fight to well to hold his own. One blushing girl brought Hiccup a skin of water when he sat down on a boulder to rest and though he kindly took it, he didn't fail to see Astrid sneer at the girl and shoo her away with her axe. Ragna found a stick and started swiping at the air clumsily, accompanied by exaggerated noises, and Astrid playfully parried with her and pretended to die when Ragna sliced at her stomach.

Astrid and Hiccup started parrying once more but instead of actually parrying, they mostly wrestled and fought each other off, hooting and laughing. Astrid jumped on Hiccup's back and he spun around, holding onto her legs tightly until they fell into the grass, laughing and rolling around, shoving grass into each other's faces. Ragna joined in and Astrid and Hiccup swung her around and tickled her silly, making her feet kick and her face pink. Ragna was climbing on Hiccup as if he was a tree and when Astrid said it was time to go home because of the setting sun, Ragna demanded Hiccup take her home via piggy-back, and so he did with a grin on his face.

Astrid shooed Ragna inside and shut the front door, leading Hiccup around to the back of the house to bring him to the back of the shed, and she shoved him against the wall and hungrily took his mouth. Astrid breathed in the smell of him; the grass, his sweat, the dirt, how the wool and leather smelled on _him _and she loved it. She ran her palms over his chest and down his stomach, feeling the rough wool and the soft chink of his mail when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently tugged her braid.

"I like your hair down," he whispered in a raspy tone before she could demand another kiss from him, gently tugging on her long rope of a braid as an indication.

"I like it up," and she kissed him again, sinking into his body and feeling his strength that made her heart thrum.

They kissed for awhile until it was dark and moonless outside and Hiccup was nearly pushing Astrid away from him, telling her she had to go inside. "I don't want toooo," she pouted defiantly, holding onto his vest tighter.

"You have to, though. Your father will hunt after my head if he finds out what we're doing," Hiccup, having all the common sense, said with a bit of a sad smile. Why did he have to do that? Astrid narrowed her eyes and punched him.

"That was for being too strong today," she said, stepping away and crossing her arms.

"And?" Hiccup said expectantly with a grin.

"And what?" Astrid replied with a fox-like smile.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" he held out his arms, looking like he was left up to dry. Astrid laughed and threw back her head. "Oh, come on. This is tradition. You can't ruin tradition," Hiccup leaned forward to tempt her, puckering his lips too much to even be tempting as a joke, but Astrid only giggled more.

"You look ridiculous," she said and finally gave him a quick peck. "And that was for being pretty good."

"Oh, yay," Hiccup said with a silly smile. "Does that make me an awesome Viking?"

"Quite awesome," Astrid laughed as he took her hand and led her to the front door.

"The best sword-wielding, most handsome and dashing and fiercest Viking in all of Viking history?" Hiccup flexed his arm and made growling noises to enhance his demeanor and theory.

"Maaybe not that far," she laughed," but definitely the handsome-est and dashing-est," together they laughed and Hiccup let her go on the porch, walking back to his house as she watched with her axe by her side.

00

All around the Kill Ring were shouting and hooting and screaming Vikings, shaking chains and drumming on the metal bars, clapping and shoving, and many other noises Hiccup couldn't decipher as he was paraded through the crowd with thirty other eligible warriors for the Heathens Brawl. Astrid was somewhere with Ruffnut along the column as they walked through the parting crowd to the gate that led to the Ring in the ground. Hiccup walked alongside Tuffnut with Snotlout behind them, the burly Viking waving and screaming back and flexing his arms. Hiccup waved back to the crowd awkwardly and stumbled once or twice when he got hearty slaps on the back.

They descended into the Ring and stood along the walls, making a huge circle on the glassy stone floor. Hiccup didn't much like it here. It reminded him of Toothless' head getting slammed into the ground by Spitelout and getting tied up like a misbehaving, feral dog. He had the saddest look in his eyes that broke his heart, Hiccup recalled. And though the crevices shut off with different opening doors were no longer used to house captive dragons and were instead used to store rations, Hiccup still felt uneasy. Too many dragons had died here, he could feel it. The floor of the Ring was turned into a glass-like sheen from all the fire that licked it, and the fire that also killed plenty of Vikings. The healer still lived closest to the Ring.

Snotlout punched his arm and woke him up from his reverie. "Aren't you excited? 'Bout to kick some ass! Whoo!" he shouted excitedly and whistled. Hiccup smiled weakly and nodded, not too entirely psyched for a fighting spree. He didn't really hear the announcer when he strolled to the center of the pit to shout out the rules of the Brawl and how it was to go about. Hiccup picked out bits and pieces, his thoughts continuously clouding his hearing.

There was to be a melee between all thirty Vikings until there were ten left standing and then there would be eight matches until a victor was decided. All the fighters were required to have blunted or wooden weapons, but most chose the blunted variety. Everyone was required to also don mail and leather though helmets were optional, and not to be used as weapons. Then, the announcer disappeared into the tunnel and a loud horn was blown, and the melee began.

Women and men alike charged into the center of the Ring and the song of iron hitting iron filled Hiccup's ears like a familiar melody. How the thirty would be reduced to ten was when the fighters could no longer fight; that could mean injury—serious or not—a yield, or death. Hiccup put that thought aside; he wouldn't die. No one would dare kill him, he was the heir to the chiefdom—Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and he had fought few men fiercer than the likes of his fellow Vikings and he still lived. Odin had not called to him yet.

He gripped the hilt of his blunted longsword and charged in headlong with the rest of the men.

He blocked the first overhand swing that came his way, and shoved the man away with his shoulder to face another pretend foe. They parried twice and Hiccup ended it with a hard strike to the shoulder that brought the man to his knees, and would have cut off his arm had he a real sword. Hiccup narrowly dodged a hammer to his head and used his boot to kick him square in the chest to fall back into other men. A woman came on him next, a shieldmaiden with a healthy girth, and swung at him with her broadsword. Hiccup shied it away and tried a cut at her thigh but she knocked it and attempted a slice at his chest, but Hiccup blocked that and then she was shoved away by someone else and Hiccup was left foe-less.

Soon enough, he could feel the sweat dripping down his back under his wool, leather and mail armor and into his eyes, his hair sticking his forehead. Hiccup took a hard blow to his right bicep that left his hand tingling, and even got punched once, right in the nose so blood ran into his mouth. He kept going on, however, and found it easier with time. It could have been twenty minutes or an hour before ten withdrew from the melee, some screaming with broken bones and others simply bested. Hiccup found Astrid once in the tangle of people and grinned at her wickedly with blood between his teeth and covering his lips, and she had her own gash across her cheek and a bloody temple, sweating just as much as he.

Astrid didn't spare him one bit like she had while they sparred the other day, and Hiccup didn't expect her to. He blocked and deflected all her blows and made some of his own until Hiccup was tripped from behind, his peg slipping out from under him. He fell to one knee and held Astrid's axe with his sword before looking over his shoulder briefly.

"Hiccup! Cousin!" Snotlout said cheerfully. "Ast, spare him a minute. Let me fight him."

Astrid laughed and lifted up her axe, leaving them to go take down someone else. Hiccup pulled himself up, all his muscles aching in the effort, and passed his sword to his right hand so he could stretch out the fingers on his left. "Not very honorable to attack an enemy while his back is turned," Hiccup said and rolled his shoulder. Fewer than twenty men remained and fought around them now. It had to be at least an hour past.

"You're not my enemy, are you? Family, more like," Snotlout gripped his sword tighter. He dribbled in his own sweat and it looked like he had blood from the corner of his mouth and a few cuts on his meaty, hair-covered arms. He grinned crookedly at Hiccup and pushed his sweat-soaked hair back, right before swinging cruel and hard at Hiccup. He blocked it but his sword fell away with the force of Snotlout's blow. Hiccup swung upward to hopefully land a blow in his chest, but Snotlout spun around him, and Hiccup had to fluidly pivot so he could block his next swing, which didn't end in his favor. Snotlout's blunted sword somehow ended up hitting his wrist and he could have dropped his sword if he hadn't also been holding the hilt with his right hand. Hiccup grimaced, but didn't let the slight hinder him; he swung hard and swift at Snotlout and advanced, making him step backward a few paces. Hiccup lifted up his sword with both hands and struck down so quickly that Snotlout barely had time to lift up his own sword to deflect it. Just as Hiccup was about to attack again, the horn blew and the crowd cheered even louder. Hiccup had forgotten that there were even people outside the Ring, or even watching. The ten fighters left paused and let their weapons fall.

Snotlout caught Hiccup's eye and laughed, flicking his hair from his eyes. "You fight well. For still being a toothpick." They grasped forearms and Hiccup laughed heartily.

There was a half-hour break before the first of the eight matches began. Hiccup, Snotlout, Astrid, Ruffnut and six other Vikings of various ages that Hiccup somewhat knew remained, all receiving cheers and 'congrats!' as they left the arena to soak themselves with water as if to pickle themselves.

Gobber nearly tackled Hiccup he was so excited. "Hiccup, ya really fought out there! Good job, lad! Great job! I'm sure if Stoick were here, he'd be so proud 'o ye! Thor's beard, I am!" He hugged his apprentice so tightly he lifted him off the ground

"Ow-ow! Gobber, thanks, but—ow—I'm in pain," the bearded Viking let him go and had the sense to look bashful.

"Oh, righ', o' carse. Git yerself over to a barrel, boy, and drink a skin full of water. Do it, or I'll have ye hammerin' out chains for a week." Gobber gently pushed him away and did as he was told.

He was a little bummed that his own father couldn't be here to see him actually fight to put the past to rest. He wanted his father to see him _be _a Viking, fighting, proving himself for all his worth. But, as chief, he had duties to fulfill. He had sailed off with a small fleet with Søren close behind to sail for the mainland about the proposed treaty since Kollr had perished in the sea, only yesterday. But, there would be another time, another Heathens Brawl, and Hiccup wasn't too miffed. He was aching and it felt like his throat was nearly shrinking with lack of water and screaming at him.

He was handed a big skin of water and slapped on the back before he sat down on a bench in a heap. He swallowed a good quarter of the water before breathing again, pulling away and panting. Astrid walked over to him with a skin of her own and a tired smile on her face, coming to sit down quietly. Her braid was messy and strewed but she still looked beautiful, pushing her sweaty bangs out from her flushed face.

"How's it going?" she asked, her thigh up against his comfortably.

Hiccup sighed, holding his water skin between his knees. "Alright. You?"

"Well," she smiled confidently. "I took down Helsplitter and Tuffnut, by the way. It felt pretty nice."

Hiccup chuckled. "I bet."

Someone came by and congratulated them both and handed them a small cloth to wipe their faces before he walked off. Hiccup and Astrid both ran the cloth over their faces, dabbed at their wounds with water, and Astrid helped Hiccup plug up his swollen nose before a river came pouring out of it. Together, they sat and relaxed a bit and said shy thank you's to those who gushed at them, and drank their skins empty and each were handed a full one, kindly. Soon enough, the half hour was up, and Astrid was called to fight first up against an older Viking by the name of Ramshackle.

Hiccup made his way to the dome of metal bars and chains and watched his girlfriend kick ass. Within ten minutes the match was decided and Astrid moved up a bracket. Two other Vikings fought next, the girthy shieldmaiden Hiccup had faced not an hour ago, and a man named Snark the Eater, so named for some odd reason someone next to Hiccup told him. The match lasted longer but was ended when the shieldmaiden was knocked out by Snark the Eater's shield. It was announced that Hiccup and Ruffnut would duel next, and Hiccup sighed a little, but he supposed it would have to happen.

Ruffnut's blunted spear was still a little bloody from when she had 'accidentally' stabbed it into someone' thigh during the melee and her shield had splintered on the edges. Hiccup walked into the arena with her, surrounded by waves of roars and whistles. In the center, they faced each other and Ruffnut smirked at him with a cocky glint in her eyes, and he simply smiled.

"Let's not kill each other, okay?" Hiccup said as he withdrew his blunted sword.

"Agreed, if you don't spare me because I'm a girl," Ruffnut replied, quirking her eyebrow. Her braids swung around her messily, her leather armor that was similar to Astrid's stretching as she moved side to side.

"No worries," Hiccup said, and quickly started the match by jabbing at her ribcage.

Ruffnut deflected it with her shield and with her other hand attempted to strike Hiccup from overhead, stabbing downward with her long spear. Hiccup swung it aside and spun around her to get around her shield, but she whirled her spear around and blocked his thrust with the hilt. Hiccup used his peg to shove against her shield to push her back, making her stumble a bit. He didn't spare a moment, taking fast swings at her that sometimes hit her shield and flew away with splinters, and some she had to duck to avoid. Ruffnut fought back, poking at him from behind her shield but she continued retreating until her back hit the stone wall.

Hiccup hit her shield away and it slid across the ground, and he pressed the blunted side of his sword to her throat. There were loud roars from the crowd screaming 'Hiccup!' and Ruffnut narrowed her eyes, and before the horn could be blown, she kicked him in the groin. He jumped away from her and yelled, nearly dropping his sword in pain while parts of the crowd laughed. Ruffnut joined them and shoved him with her boot to make him fall onto his back. Hiccup narrowly avoided her stab to his arm by rolling away and pulling himself up to block another of her blows. They came in quick succession, one after another, sometimes with the spearhead or the butt end of the long hilt. Hiccup stood his ground and avoided the blows, dancing around each other as they parried back and forth.

Sweat had long ago fell in sheets down their faces, the few lazy clouds in the sky sometimes drifting to block the hot sun, but by long, Hiccup and Ruffnut were both panting with exhaustion. Ruffnut had hit Hiccup in the stomach with the end of her spear to knock the air out of him, and Hiccup had elbowed her in the eye so she had a forming bruise around it. They were beaten and tired, but they fought on proudly. Finally, Ruffnut had attempted a stab at his hip that he sidestepped and Hiccup managed to swing down with his sword hard enough to cut off the spearhead entirely.

A horn was blown shortly after to signal the end of the match with Hiccup's victory. 'Haddock' went around the crowd and Ruffnut dropped the headless spear hilt and smirked at Hiccup. "Good match, _Haddock_," Ruffnut raised her hand and Hiccup high-fived her, smiling in relief.

"I'll make you a new spear," he told her as they limped together out of the ring.

"Good. It better be better than that piece of shit you broke. I want the staff to be a stronger pine wood," Ruffnut said with a raspy voice but with a carefree, glittering look on her dirty face. Hiccup rolled his eyes and laughed, putting a friendly arm around her shoulders as they entered daylight.

The next two matches went by quickly but Hiccup didn't watch them, instead opting to sit lamely on a bench and gorge himself with water, chatting happily to a few people. He was to fight Snark the Eater, and the fight went well enough until Hiccup was hit in the head a few times by his shield and he decided he didn't care about winning as much as he initially thought. Laying on the ground, his head bleeding, Hiccup raised up his arm and yielded. Snark the Eater pulled Hiccup up by the elbow and lead him out of the Ring.

As he was getting his head wrapped up, Astrid and Snark the Eater were to fight the Champion match. Snark had to have been at least two heads taller than Astrid and twice her size but she didn't falter one bit. Since he missed her last match, Hiccup felt obligated to watch, so he sat at the foot of his father's reserved stone chair and he could see pretty well into the Ring from his perch. Snark's war hammer was big and heavy but he wielded it as if it was nothing, swinging at Astrid who he must have thought to be a pesky mouse by her size. She danced around him swiftly like this was her first match of the day, screaming at him while she knocked his hammer aside and swung a hard kick at his knee.

Snark bellowed out and staggered and blocked Astrid's swing of her axe with a loud clang of metal. While their weapons met, Astrid pulled out a knife from the pouch on the back of her belt and held the point to Snark's throat, hiding underneath his shadow. With his barrel-sized chest heaving and beginning to shake with deep laughter, he dropped his war hammer and splintered shield in a yield.

Hiccup jumped up and cheered and clapped and whistled with the rest of the crowd in her victory as the horn was blown. Astrid raised up her arms with a grin and walked to the center of the arena to swim in all the cheers and hoots, absorbing it all up. People swarmed into the Ring to circle her, presenting Astrid with a pewter axe on a wooden pedestal, the prize for winning the third annual Heathens Brawl, but she was also to earn nearly three hundred penningar. Astrid was paraded around the Ring on Snark's shoulder, pumping her fist and screaming, jostling the award around. Hiccup grinned, so very proud of her, and he was happy to have her win. She deserved it.

Astrid was carried to Mead Hall where the night's party immediately began. Hiccup accompanied Astrid and held her award while she chugged ale tankard after ale tankard, horns of wine, skins of mead and beer, all presented to her by everyone who came to congratulate her and roar in her victory. By supper time Astrid was slap-happy drunk and pulling off her armor, piling it in Hiccup's arms until she was in her undertunic and breeches, throwing her boots across the crowd of people from atop the table. Hiccup's stomach had started to hurt from all the laughing, not to mention the punches he received there and Ruffnut's spear. But, he couldn't have enjoyed Astrid's victory drunkenness anymore, even if he was completely sober. It was just hilarious to watch her. Astrid was kicking goblets off the table while she swung her elbows and sang along merrily to a pub song. She missed more than half the words and made up a quarter of them, but she was too drunk to even care to know what she was saying.

Ingrid and Arnheim came over to 'Astrid' Table'—so declared by herself—and her father threw her over her shoulder without a word, ignoring her slurred protests. Ingrid had found Astrid's boots and took some of her armor out of Hiccup's arms so he could carry her pewter axe award, her mail, and the sack of penningar. Astrid yelled nonsense at her father as they left, leaving behind a wake of claps and last-time congrats. Once they were down the steps, Arnheim removed his daughter from his shoulder and set her down, but because of her wobbly knees and her incessant giggles, he held her up until Ingrid was able to help him walk her home.

Hiccup quietly walked behind them, listening to her parents laugh at Astrid's poor attempts at speech and he chuckled to himself, but didn't say anything lest he draw the attention of her father. However, halfway there, Arnheim threw Astrid over his shoulder again to carry her the rest of the way back.

"Thor's beard, she drinks like a fish, doesn't she?" Arnheim said over his daughter-less shoulder. Hiccup didn't know he was being spoken to until Astrid started making fish faces at Hiccup.

"E-especially when she wins something, it seems," Hiccup replied back.

Arnheim let out a bark of laughter. "Best not let her win too much, there, lad, or you might break your back sooner than you'd think," he said as he adjusted Astrid on his shoulder.

At the Hofferson's house, Ingrid collected Astrid's things from Hiccup except the axe award. "Bring that up to her room, will you?" She asked and then walked off into the kitchen. Hiccup brought the award upstairs, and just before he was about to enter her room, Arnheim emerged from the darkness and he laid a huge hand on Hiccup's shoulder before moving past him to go down the crooked steps. He paused a moment, trying to recall if his hand was ever there at all. It was a small gesture, but it left an impact on Hiccup, leaving him surprised but relieved; it seemed like Arnheim approved of him, and he felt glad. Or as close as approved could get from Arnheim. He didn't seem to hate him, at least, and that was good enough.

Hiccup walked into Astrid's room, dark except for a square of dim light across her bed where she laid underneath the sheets and a light fur pelt, snoring. Hiccup set her award atop her dresser and walked over to the edge of the bed, suddenly noticing the tense ache behind his eyes. He sat down on the edge slowly, watching her chest rise and fall slowly. He brushed a bruised and dirty hand across her forehead to move her bangs, and he smiled gently at her sleeping face still flushed with drink and excitement. Hiccup bent and kissed her forehead with dry lips and sat and watched her for while until his eyelids felt like anvils. He left her room and shut the door quietly. Ingrid and Arnheim said goodbye to him before he went out the front door.

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	22. Chapter 21

As promised, here's an update! Wahooooo!

If you're reading this, I give you the biggest of hugs the and the most epic of high-fives. I appreciate the small following I have obtained with this story and all the encouraging and supportive reviews and messages I have received lately. Truly! This is surreal, man. _I have people who like my story_! I think it's really cool. I've never had that and I've always dreamed of it. Super cool!

Here's a music suggestion I haven't done in awhile that fits this chapter to a T: _The Darkest Side _by The Middle East. Seriously such a beautiful song, it breaks my heart (especially since it reminds me of Book Three in the Game of Thrones book series, sob sob) It's also my top played in my iTunes. Listen to it! It's incredibly enchanting and melodic. Beautiful.

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Hands on Sunshine

Chapter Twenty-One

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Astrid blew out the rest of the candles in her room and crawled into bed beside her little niece. She kicked around to fix the old straw underneath the layers of sheets and made a mental note to change the rushes soon, but the kicking made Ragna giggle and do the same.

"Alright, alright, time to relax," Astrid said with a faint smile still on her face. She sighed and stared at the dark ceiling and the rafters across it, thinking deeply. She turned on her side and watched her niece curl into her blankets and pillow, her freckled pudgy cheeks flattened cutely. "I'm going to sing you a lullaby someday, okay? I promise you," Astrid said in a whisper, pulling her hand out from the covers to rest on Ragna's cheek comfortingly. Ragna opened her eyes and smiled, even more squished.

"Okay. I love you, Auntie," she said quietly and shut her eyes again.

Astrid smiled. "I love you too." And she meant it.

The two woke early the next morning due to loud bangs from the kitchen and loud voices, namely Ingrid and Auda. Astrid rolled out of bed and stretched and started rustling through her chest of clothes. Ragna sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning, Ragna," Astrid said lightly, pulling out a pale green knee-length tunic with brown knots embroidered around the bottom hem. She slipped it on over her undertunic and when Ragna was out of bed, she sat her on the stool in front of her vanity to brush her hair.

Once they both had dressed and Astrid had pulled the brush through her thick hair, they went downstairs to see what all the noise was about, and were kindly greeted with the smell of guts, blood and fish. Ragna made a disgusted noise and made a face and covered her mouth and nose with the neck of her dress when she walked into the kitchen. Ingrid and Auda were cleaning fish while Brandan was emptying a huge elk on the table, nearly ready to be skinned. Suddenly Ragna began to cry at the sight of the dead animal, balking at the blood up to Brandan's elbows and buckets full of entrails and organs at his feet on the floor.

"Well, good morning to you too!" Brandan said with a smile, trying to make light of the situation.

"It's a dead elk, Brandan," Auda said dully. "of course she's going to cry. She's three."

Ragna cried into Astrid's legs while she shushed her, telling her it was nothing to cry about. "Well, these things happen. It'll be our dinner for a good long while in winter and she won't be crying then," Ingrid said with a certain happy-go-lucky tone to her voice as she sliced off the skin of a good-sized salmon. "Astrid, put an apron on and help your sister and I. We have two baskets to go and we still have to smoke and salt and pickle them."

"Just let me go feed Spike first," Astrid said, taking Ragna by the hand and leading her out of the back door.

"Alright, just be quick," Ingrid said. Passing the table, Ragna turned her head and sniffled a little.

Astrid made sure Spike cheered up Ragna plenty, squawking and purring and chortling, rubbing her nose horn against the little girl's brown head after eating her fill of fish. Astrid lifted her up once so she could sit on her back and although Spike wasn't too partial to having a squiggly three-year-old on her back, she tolerated it well enough and walked around the barn to Ragna's immense delight. Afterward, she threw Astrid a rather apprehending glare before the two girls left to back inside the house. Ragna entertained herself with Snare and Alhildr while Astrid went to cleaning and boning fish with her mother and sister. She learned that Brandan had returned early this morning from his three-day hunting trip with his friends with the elk, a doe, and a dozen squirrels. Arnheim came home to help Brandan skin the elk and quarter it to dry and salt the meat while the women made quick work of the fish. Once the elk and deer and a few of the squirrels were skinned and quartered and emptied, Arnheim went out to the backyard to start building a smoker.

Astrid started early on salting the fish because she was getting bored and wanting to see Hiccup. She continued salting, noticing small cuts on her fingers for the first time from the stinging. She was constantly looking for an escape. Once Auda and Ingrid had laid out the fish on a board to bring out to smoke, Astrid found her chance. Grabbing an apple, she started inching her way toward the other room.

"Hey, Astrid, will you—hey, young lady!" Ingrid started to say until she saw her daughter duck out the door. "Astrid!"

She bounded out the door and up the street, laughing and eating the perfect apple. On her way to the forge, she caught Snotlout in the corner of her eye, laughing loudly in the pen of cattle and horses, and when she stopped to see what he was laughing about, Hiccup stood up from behind a cow, rubbing his head. She already knew what happened, so she ran over to the fence and climbed up to sit down on the top log. "Hey, guys. How's your head?" Astrid asked and bit into her apple.

Snotlout guffawed, his fists on his hips. "Hey, Ast. Hiccup just got kicked in the head by this beauty," he tapped a hand on the horses back and she whinnied back like she was proud of herself.

"I know, but that's why I asked _Hiccup. _Stupid," Astrid replied back with a quirk of her eyebrow. Snotlout made a face back at her.

"Feels great!" Hiccup answered, flashing a thumbs up. "Only shoeing Snotlout's horses, is all."

"Have you been swimming in fish guts all day, Ast? I can smell you from here, even through all this manure," Snotlout asked as he leaned against the fence next to her.

"No, but you'll be swimming in manure soon enough," Astrid retorted with a sly smile and Hiccup chuckled from behind the horse's belly. "Thor's beard, when are you going to milk your cows? They're about to burst, 'Lout," Astrid said, feeding the core of her apple to one of Snotlout's family herding dogs.

"My mom and sister are about to do that once Hiccup's done shoeing the ox and horses," Snotlout replied.

"Only sixteen more hooves to go," Hiccup said with false excitement and stood up, slapping the horse lightly on the behind to get her to move into the stable with the rest of the few work horses the Jorgenson's owned. He took his bucket of newly-wrought shoes and went to the ox standing nearest to Snotlout and Astrid.

Snotlout clicked his tongue, getting the ox to move from the bale of hay attached to the fence. "Aw, it's not that bad. You only got kicked once. And this guy's not so bad, he's getting old," he sniggered. "and more cranky."

Hiccup groaned. "You try getting kicked in the head by an annoyed horse. It might knock some sense into you,"

"That might be true. He might think twice about flaunting his muscles so he could actually get a date," Astrid said, laughing when Snotlout threw her a reprimanding look with a reddish tint to his cheeks.

"Oh, right, because Hiccup got kicked in the head so many times he somehow landed you," Snotlout snapped back with a cocky look to his face. Astrid and Hiccup both laughed.

_Well, I know who kicked him in the head, _Astrid thought. "Eh," she shrugged. "A couple more kicks couldn't do him any harm either,"

"Hey!" Hiccup chuckled while he hit some nails into a hoof, holding the ox's ankle between his knees. "You could use some, too,"

"Ouch!" Snotlout jumped in.

"Pfft. I don't shoe cows," Astrid kicked her feet and smiled.

The three of them bantered back and forth for an hour or so until Hiccup was done shoeing. He narrowly avoided one more hoof the head but he got a loud angry grunt as a warning, unlike the first time, so he dodged it just in the time, but other than that, he animals didn't pay Hiccup much mind. Snotlout led the oxen and a few cows into the stables with a little help from Hiccup and a Terrible Terror that helped herd alongside the dogs. Astrid played with a few dogs outside the fence while she waited, roughhousing with them a bit, letting them nibble on her forearms and hands. It didn't take long for the oxen to be all inside the stables so Snotlout's mother and sister could milk them. Hiccup hopped over the fence and landed right next to Astrid so he startled her, letting out a yelp, and the dog jumped a little in surprise as well. He grinned at her but she punched him in the arm.

They walked back to the forge together so Hiccup could drop off his bucket of old shoes and nails with his hammer inside. Just as they were walking out, Hiccup had brushed his hair aside along his brow and Astrid caught a glimpse of a purple-ish bruise right above his left brow next to his temple. She gasped lightly and pulled his hand from his side and led him out the door.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup said with an alarmed voice, taken aback by her suddenness.

"There's a huge freakin' bruise on your forehead. Horses kick hard. I'm taking you to the healer's to see if you have a concussion," Astrid replied sternly, leaving no room for debate, but being Hiccup, he was quite aloof.

"I don't feel concussed at all," Hiccup said, though he didn't resist her hand in his. She looked over her shoulder to avoid a passing wayn and Hiccup saw she had her Determined Face on. He sighed. She really needed to relax sometimes, but his head did hurt a little. At least she showed she cared, and it was nice to be cared about.

"Doesn't matter. You probably need your head checked again anyway, from the Brawl. And your side could use a check-up. You're a walking mess, Hiccup."

"I didn't know I was going in for a physical."

"You're not."

"Good. Because I'd rather you do that anyway than an older woman."

Astrid seemed to stop all train of thought to register what he said for a moment, and looked up at him with the most unamused expression he had ever seen. "Alright. You're concussed."

Just as he was done sniggering, he said, "I was only kidding. I wanted to see your reaction."

"You saw it."

"It wasn't what I was expecting though. I thought you would be more entertained," Hiccup said, sounding like he was explaining his models to her.

"No, I think Snotlout rubbed off on you today. You could do better," Astrid smirked.

"I'm a lot more tactful than Snotlout, if you asked me."

"Not just then. You were really obvious, pervert."

"Because it was an opportune moment to say something smutty. Can't help that I'm a man with impulses and needs," Hiccup laughed when Astrid snorted and he squeezed her hand.

At the healers, Astrid and Hiccup sat on a bench by the door to wait for Svala to finish up wrapping a child's broken arm. Hiccup remembered breaking his arm when he was around this boys' age; something like ten. Snotlout dared him to climb a pine tree and throw a cone down from the top like he and Tuffnut had done. Hiccup only got about halfway up and before a branch broke and he tumbled to the ground. It was Fishlegs who had got the healer first, but it was Astrid who told him to shut up because he was crying like a baby, but she sat next to him until Svala came to take him back here. She just sat there, not saying anything while he sniffled and tried his best to ignore his numb and stinging arm. He liked her for doing that.

Hiccup smiled and put his hand on her knee, looking at her round and open face. She smiled back and looked away a few seconds later.

There were a few curtained off sections of the large room where the sick and injured laid, but most of the beds were empty because it wasn't the sick season. When the boy and his father left, Svala waved Hiccup and Astrid over to the elevated bench where she still remained, sitting on a high stool. She greeted them both kindly but Astrid only said a cold 'hello'. She apparently still held a grudge for Svala embarrassing her, but Hiccup supposed it was just for the sake of holding a grudge with nothing held behind it. In any case, he smiled warmly enough for both of them.

"So what are you here for?" Svala asked, sitting with her hands in her lap. Hiccup lifted himself up onto the bench about the height of a counter and explained to her what _Astrid _wanted checked out (he made his point to her that _she_ thought he was totally concussed and this was all _her _idea). Svala laughed and proceeded to check out his head.

While Hiccup was being examined, Astrid strode around the room and looked at all the funny plants hanging from the ceiling, dried in bundles, opened some jars, smelled some powders, and rubbed a little bit of ointment between her fingers to test them out. She couldn't read all the labels, but even if she could, the names on them were scribbled hastily in a messy hand. Soon enough, after Svala inspected Hiccup's healing side and gave him the okay that he was perfectly healthy, both Astrid and Hiccup left the longhouse.

"See, I told you, I wasn't concussed," Hiccup said proudly, taking Astrid's hand again.

Astrid rolled her eyes and shrugged, "You could have easily been. At least we got it checked out."

Hiccup liked the way she said 'we'. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Both the forge and Hallbera's are closed today, huh. Oh, well. We'll find something to do."

Together, they ended up lying under a tree in the far end of someone's yard behind their garden, talking about senseless things like current village gossip that neither really cared about. Hiccup explained some of his ideas for dragon saddles and equipment, which Astrid was interested for a time until Hiccup went on a ridiculous tangent about some of his inventions and math-related things that made Astrid doze off. They went on a tour around the village they had both seen a hundred times and tried to see what Ruffnut and Tuffnut were up to but they were both busy in the barley fields. Fishlegs was out fishing and mapping the fish migration routes, and, coincidentally, Toothless and Spike were out and nowhere to be found, probably on a hunting round with a group of dragons.

Finding themselves at an utter dead end, Hiccup suggested, "Do you want to help clean my room? I've been meaning to do it."

Astrid burst out laughing. "Sounds better than cleaning fish."

So that's what they did. They went back to his house and started taming the mess that was Hiccup's Room. Astrid helped Hiccup pull out old parchment from boxes behind his desk and sort them out from stupid knick knacks and useful things and models and good ideas. There were some broken or unfinished toys and figures and such things that Hiccup didn't want anymore and told Astrid that he'd rather gift them to people. Astrid said she would take the old clothes and bring them to Hallbera's to sell.

"These can still be worn and used," _and some to keep_, she thought.

"Okay, that's fine, you can take them. I don't really mind," Hiccup said absentmindedly, flipping through an old and weathered book with patches of metal on the spine and corners.

Quite a bit later when a good portion of his room was clean, while Hiccup was sitting on the floor by his desk and surrounded by sketchbooks and scrolls, Astrid found a flat, closed box under his bed across the room. It was covered by a thick layer of dusk and partially hidden under a hundred things. Furrowing her brows and getting increasingly curious, she pulled the box out and things with it, and lifted the lid off the wooden box and was only a little surprised to find four dusty leather-bound journals inside.

Hiccup looked up from looking through a sketchbook to see her looking at the journals he had intentionally hidden and forgotten about. "Astrid, don't…," he started to say but she was already reading.

"_I found her again today, my mom. But only it wasn't her. I really thought it was her, I really did, but when I saw it wasn't her I almost cried. I hid and cried behind a tree and Tuffnut found me and made fun of me and laughed. I threw a rock at him after I got so mad and I hit him on the head, and he finally left, but it didn't make me feel any better. It's been 2 years…_

"_I accidentally opened a sheep pen today during a dragon raid. I was protecting it, really, at least until a Nadder came to eat my head off. Dad saved me, as usual, but a good portion of the sheep were carried off and it's almost winter. He hardly looked at me at all he was so angry. _

"_Why can't they just leave me alone? Snotlout is supposed me nice to me because he's my cousin but he's still a jerk! And Tuffnut's the same way. Do they not have anything nice to say? Mom told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all. I'm always the one to be picked on. They can't ever leave me alone, and I see them all the time. I hate this village, this island. I just want to be left alone…_"

There were more entries about anger and loneliness and sadness that left Astrid feeling disorientated. She didn't know this side of Hiccup. Maybe because she didn't care enough to find out when they were younger, and it made her feel guilty. She could taste his words like they were ashes in her mouth. Her stomach turned.

She closed the first journal and picked up a second, and this one was mostly consumed of ripped out pages and angrily scratched out doodles and thick, loud words that expressed his deeply interred frustration. She read an entry that told about his thoughts and confused feelings on her. He said he liked her but hated her at the same time because she would always stand around and do nothing to stop his daily taunts and terrors, and he went into great detail about how that was almost as worse as being the bully, and when she did speak to him, she never said a nice word either. Astrid could place how she felt, but… she blinked away tears in her eyes and felt a profound tightness in her throat.

She picked up a third journal gingerly and thought twice about reading it but she opened it and read the first entry she saw, about his mother. As she was reading, Hiccup came over and sat next to her on the bed with his elbows on his knees and his head bent so he looked at the top of the journals he had forsaken.

Astrid read through tear-stained works and read in chopped words but she read. Hiccup took the journal from her hands very gently, his cold fingers brushing hers, and he skimmed over the passage, however his eyes stayed dry. He remembered writing this, every word. He remembered the smell of the burning sheep fat candle next to him. He remembered exactly how he felt, exactly what was running through his head, filled with thoughts of a long and dark night, and exactly how much his heart hurt.

"_I can't even remember what she looked like_."

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut against the tears and the book dropped from his hand to thud on the floor with the pages flayed between his foot and peg. Hiccup looked at his empty hands with blurry vision and felt all the same things well into him like a flooding lake. It flowed and continued and soon he was engulfed and consumed. It was cold and sent needle pricks down his spine and settled deep in his bones.

"Half of my life I've been missing someone who I hardly know. I'm still so angry because I can't remember what my mother looks like," he said with thick words. "My father was absent. I had no one after she left. I still miss her so much."

Astrid blinked away hot tears, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as she turned her knees towards him. His face was screwed up and red and wet and he kept crying fat globs of tears that ran down his nose and into his mouth and down his chin. She listened to him as attentively as she ever had and felt his pain. She _felt _it. She had never known what he had been through, nor would she ever, but she hated it. She hated seeing him so sad and agonized it felt as if her heart had been cinched too tight.

"I'm sorry," Astrid whispered between his blubbering words.

Hiccup glanced at her through the corner of his eye, but quickly hid his face with his hand, utterly ashamed. "I can't do this anymore, Astrid. I can't _still _feel this way. I _can't_," he started shaking his head. "I can't…."

Hiccup bottled it up deep, these feelings about his mother. He hardly spoke about her at all. Astrid had never had an inkling about his complicated and twisted feelings. Hiccup swallowed and shut his eyes. He looked at her just for a second and she could feel her heart break little by little.

She pulled his head to her and tucked it just under her chin, wrapping him in her arms. He buried his face in her chest and she held him close and tight as he did for her once, running her hand over his hair and down his back soothingly. She felt a few tears of her own spill past her notice as he sobbed into her tunic. He was secretly broken and she never knew. What kind of girlfriend is she? She never knew.

However, she did know that she wasn't going to let this continue, him keeping all these things and feelings like forbidden secrets. She didn't want him to feel shattered anymore, to feel sad, to feel lonesome, because she wanted to _be there_. He especially needed that, to just know that she was there whenever he felt like shrinking in on himself like discarded things. He wasn't as hard-willed and she was, and nor could he simply ignore his feelings like Astrid had taken up very young. She wanted him to be okay, to not feel this hurt anymore, even if it meant taking it onto herself. She could bear it easier than him, she would bear the whole world if it meant that Hiccup wouldn't be like this.

_You feel all their problems should be put before yours because you care about them so much. _

All of a sudden, forelsket made sense. She felt it down to her bones and at the top of her skin and in the roots of her hair. _So this is love?_

Astrid squeezed Hiccup tighter, knowing now that she _did _indeed love him and then she felt something lifted off her shoulders that she didn't know was there. Other than that, she didn't feel any different, didn't see a shining beacon off in the distance, didn't hear any twittering birds or felt any zinging tingles down to her toes. She was still Astrid, and he was still Hiccup, but now she knew and understood the depths of her feelings—and how much further they can go—and now she had to help him.

Astrid kissed the top of his head and rocked him gently while she smoothed down his hair, not saying anything as the poor boy sobbed into her. He seemed a child, so small and broken, but yet so weathered and tempered. Exhausted, maybe. Astrid let him pour it all out while she simply cradled him.

After a long, long while, Hiccup pulled his head out from her grasp and unwound his arms from her waist and sat up, wiping his tears from his vibrant red and green eyes (she did notice how his eyes looked like the greenest colored grass). Astrid offered a comforting smile with wet eyes of her own and placed a hand on his cheek to direct his eyes towards hers because he looked away. Hiccup bit his lip and looked at her deeply, and Astrid could only hope he could see the love and care and sympathy in her eyes as she couldn't speak about such fresh discoveries just yet. She kissed a tear trail on his cheek, tasting the salty bitterness, and stroked his face, just looking at him contentedly for a bit.

"Here, lets lay down," Astrid said lightly and crawled to the head of the bed where she welcomed him with wide arms. He came to her and laid his head on her shoulder quietly without a word.

Astrid sighed and waited a minute to get her thoughts in order. "Your mother and mine were good friends, I remember. She asked me to call her Auntie Val and I did. She was a strong woman, physically and mentally. I remember she always had a big braided bun at the back of her head and I could only image the length of her hair."

"It was really long. And soft. It reached almost to her waist. She would ask me to brush it sometimes," Hiccup said in a tired voice, breathing in the smell of Astrid's skin.

"I can see it. And, I remember her eyes being just like yours. As green as emeralds from the faraway lands she would travel to. She brought me back a bronze brooch once; she said it was from some desert land along a vast blue sea. She told me it was the head of a lion or something, but of course I had no idea what that was—and still do, really—so she told me it was like a big yellow cat with great big paws and a golden mane," Astrid explained with an illustrating voice. "She said she once saw a lion take down ten men in a ring, swatting at them like they were flies with spears, and she told me its roar could awake all the animals to fight for valor and honor," Astrid snorted and paused to laugh. "I thought Auntie Val was the coolest. I wore that brooch all the time because she told me that the brooch reminded her of me. She told me that I could be a lion, take down ten men, and roar to waken all the souls to fight… that was one thing your mother was good at, Hiccup—it was making people feel good. She would come over to talk to my mom when my dad hit her and while they were talking I could hear my mom crying… but once they were done with all the mushy stuff, they laughed so loud and shook the rafters. My mom would smile like nothing had been different or better.

"The sad thing is, though, is that I lost that brooch. I was wrestling with Snotlout with it on and went home and it wasn't there. I looked for it until long after night had fallen and Aislin had to come and walk me home while I cried. I loved that brooch. But… I miss your mom, too, Hiccup. She was a wonderful lady. I always knew when she was over because I could hear her laughing from outside."

Hiccup chuckled a bit. "She did laugh really loud."

"And—whoo!—I bet that woman could fight, too. Odin's eye, I feared for those she fought, even the dragons, poor things. Everyone loved Auntie Val, and I always looked up to her. It was obvious your dad loved her just by the way he would look at her sometimes, everyone saw it. They hardly even hid that they were married, I think. He misses her too, though, Hiccup, everyone does. I'm sure not a day goes by where he doesn't think about Auntie Val," Astrid felt Hiccup swallow against her shoulder. "So it's okay, Hiccup. She's still here. Don't forget that."

Hiccup didn't say anything, only buried his head into her hair and sniffed.

Later that night, the two of them brought the four journals and the box downstairs to burn them in the hearth. Hiccup tore out the page resolutely and quietly while Astrid sat by and watched him burn his frustration and lonesome past away. He wouldn't show it yet, but soon he would look like a cloud was off his shoulders, and he would smile with the sun on his face. Hiccup was like that. He would bounce back and return to his old self.

Soon happened to be a week.

His father the chief came home a few days after the makeshift ceremonial book burning but Astrid never saw Hiccup talk to him at all. He didn't really talk to anybody, truthfully. He worked at the forge all day and night and when Astrid brought him supper a few times, the forge had an eerie _quiet _feel to it, though the forge was never quiet. It was still noisy, with the bellows and crackling of the fire and Hiccup doing his smith work—it just didn't feel the same. Astrid did most of the talking, brief as her visits were because she felt like he needed and wanted space, like he just wanted to be alone. It made Astrid a little depressed knowing that he didn't want to see her at the moment, and that was okay. Sometimes she didn't want to see Ruffnut's face, or even Auda's, on some days. She was just starting to worry.

Astrid began losing the little sleep she had with her rampant thoughts. She buried herself in her last dress at Hallbera's for her apprenticeship trial but it wasn't working out right; a stitch wasn't perfect, the fabric snagged, she pricked her finger and stained the fabric. Even Hallbera's witty comments hardly lifted her spirits and after a few days she stopped trying to cheer her up. In the little time she was home, Ragna clung to her and asked her questions on why she was 'sad', why there were 'shadows' underneath her eyes, and one night Astrid yelled at her and said things she didn't mean that left the poor three-year-old running upstairs crying. Astrid felt the hard stares from her family, she didn't even have to look at them.

"What?! She's driving me crazy!" Astrid exclaimed.

After a pause, Auda spoke. "You didn't have to yell at her like that. She's only three."

Astrid coldly guffawed. "Like you're a sweet sugar queen to her? Please!"

"Astrid, you know what you said to Ragna was unnecessary," Arnheim interjected before his daughters would start another Brawl.

"Don't talk to me about saying unnecessary things, dad, O God of Kind Words and Kisses," Arnheim reddened, ashamed because she was right on that account. "But you know how she clings to me! I can't do this right now, with everyone criticizing me," Astrid stormed out of the kitchen through the back door in a flurry of yellow and blue and went to Spike where she cried in the dragon's neck for most of the night. She sobbed and heaved and wiped away mixed tears and snot, allowing herself to look and sound ugly like she couldn't with anyone else.

"Gods, I'm a disgusting crier. I'm sorry if I've scared you to death with all the whines I just did," Astrid sighed and smiled, sitting back on her heels. Spike made a chortle that sounded like 'it's okay'.

"I was really mean to Ragna, wasn't I. She probably thinks I hate her," Astrid said quietly and just then, there was a knock on the door frame of the barn, and when she looked to the source of the intrusion, she saw Ingrid standing against it.

She looked tired. "Ragna needs to be tucked in. Do you want to do it or should I? I've already talked to her and she's really upset, Astrid. You have to apologize."

Astrid thought about it even though she already knew the answer. "I'll do it. Just give me a minute," Ingrid left and Astrid stood up to hug Spike's head in full, rubbing her cheek against her cold nasal horn and scratching some scales before she said goodnight and left.

Astrid quietly walked into her room, a few candles still lit, with Ragna sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her rag doll and looking down at it forlornly. The little girl looked up but looked back down quickly with furrowed and angry brows. Astrid sat next to her a good foot away and quietly told her she was sorry and that she didn't mean most of the things she said. She assured her that she was okay but that she would like some space from her every once and awhile. She told her that she was just worried about Hiccup but she was going to be okay.

"I love you, Ragna, and I'm sorry," Astrid said to her knees, but Ragna threw her face into her stomach to hug her aunt with teary eyes.

"I thought you hated me!" Ragna said into Astrid's roughspun tunic, and she had to chuckle knowing that she totally knew it.

"I could never hate you. You're too cute and too adorable for me to ever hate you, sweetheart," Astrid pulled the little girls arms from around her waist so she could lift her up from her armpits and set her on her lap to hold close and tight. "I could never hate you," Astrid said into Ragna's soft brown hair that smelled of child.

"I love you too, Aunt Diddy," Ragna said in a small voice that nearly broke Astrid's heart.

The next day, Astrid put some bread and butter and cheese into a basket to bring to Hiccup for a mid-afternoon dinner since she had seen the smoke when she had left for Hallbera's in the early hours of morning. It was a chilly and cloudy day, so she put her mother's shawl around her shoulders and set out. She could hear the metal clangs nearly half a block before she arrived at the front door. The forge felt much the same as of recent, and suddenly Astrid thought with a frightened sinking feeling that it would always be like this, but today Hiccup greeted her with a grunty 'hello'.

"I brought you some bread and cheese," Astrid said mildly to start a conversation, but she only got a 'thank you' in return, and that was okay, but a little more talk would have been nice. She missed talking to him.

She set the basket on the counter for when he was ready to eat it, and heaved herself up to sit on the counter next to it. She swung her feet quietly for a few minutes and watched him mold out a few chunky links for a chain of some sort. She became lost in thought so deeply, she hardly noticed Hiccup stopping his work and pulling up a chair to sit in front of her, albeit a foot lower. She blinked and saw him looking up at her with deep eyes, trying to find some meaning on her face.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, swallowing. Astrid wanted to yell at him. Why would _he _ask if she was okay? She had been worrying about him for nearly a week! She should be asking him that question! It made her angry, him acting all oblivious to what he had been putting her through with his moody, brooding attitude. But… Astrid couldn't muster up the energy to be angry—a first for her. She was just so tired.

"Yeah. I'm fine," But she wasn't. _I'm not okay, Hiccup, you fool. Say 'no you're not'. Say it. Prove me wrong. _"Just tired." _More than that. _

Hiccup lowered his gaze to his hands that he held between his legs. He looked at his dirty, calloused palms and exhaled a long breath. "I can see it on your face, Astrid. You've been worried sick," he said slowly without looking up, and it surprised her that he could know that just by her face through the exasperation. Through her plain face, he knew. It made her feel vulnerable and open and exposed; revealed. She meant to hide that from him so he wouldn't know, but thinking on it, it would have been useless anyway, she realized. She just didn't want to _worry_ him because she knew he would. _Well, that worked out, didn't it? Stupid_, Astrid thought.

"And I'm sorry for that. For making you worry," Hiccup looked up at her through his mussy hair, but looked back down to his hands in shame. "I've been too selfish in my own world to realize what I had been doing. I was just so… I don't know. Focused? Deep in thought? I was just thinking about what you had said and what had happened and everything, and I'm sorry, Astrid. I shouldn't have done that to you. You deserve better from me."

Astrid's anger and disappointment was gone. He was honest and repented suitably, though it still made Astrid sad he didn't _explain_—elaborate. "It's okay, I guess. Just don't do it again. I'm half dead on my feet because of you," she offered a small half smile and he returned it, but both fell once Hiccup looked back down. Astrid reached forward and picked up his chin.

"Look at me," Astrid said sternly. "It's okay to hole yourself up every now and then. I get it. You need your space. Hiccup Time. But you _have_ to tell me what's going through your head during Hiccup Time. I'm not going to let you stew in your dark thoughts alone. I want you to know I'm here to listen all the time; every day, every night. Okay? I'm here for you, Hiccup. All the time. I'm here for you…," By the time she was done, Astrid had descended into deep torrents of sobs after trying to hold back. Hiccup stood up swiftly and embraced her and she cried into his smoky apron as he ran his hand down her hair.

"I felt left in the dark. You just didn't want to talk to me anymore and I felt so hurt. I was worried and scared that it would always be like that," Astrid Hofferson admitted that she was _scared_. Not of feral dragons or wolves or bears—of being shut out and forgotten by _Hiccup. _Gods, how strange was that? She hadn't realized what she had said until she said it and grew slightly embarrassed, but Hel, who would she be if she insisted Hiccup told her his feelings if she didn't tell him her own? _A bloody hypocrite, that's what. _"Don't do that again, Hiccup, please."

Hiccup bent and kissed away her tears while some of his own fell, muttering "I'm sorry" against her skin and in her hair over and over. He held her close for a long while until a light rain started falling outside. They both grew cold next to the window despite the heat of the fires and each others bodies, so Hiccup brought Astrid over to the hearth and sat in another chair and pulled her down with him without a word into his lap. Astrid held onto him and breathed in the smell of his skin, content she was with Hiccup again.

"I've missed this," Hiccup said quietly while he twirled a ribbon of her blond hair around his finger.

"Me too. I don't want to leave," Astrid muttered into the muscle between his neck and shoulder.

"No one said you have to," Hiccup said gently with a smile.

"I suppose you're right," Astrid agreed. Just then, Hiccup's stomach rumbled. "But you should really eat some of that bread and cheese. I'm sure the only times you've eaten the last few days were when I brought you food."

"Did I mention you're a goddess?"

00


End file.
